Rescue & Restore
by goddrivesajeep
Summary: Resident Evil movie verse AU where Umbrella doesn't exist, and no one really knows what caused the outbreak. A former physician, Alice, stumbles upon a settlement led by the charismatic mechanic, Claire Redfield.
1. Wild Eyes

"You think there's anything good in there, boy?" Alice was crouched behind a broken down wall as she eyed the seemingly deserted convenience store.

Katros replied to his master's question with a scoff as he sniffed the arid desert air.

Alice watched him intently; he was as good as a movement detector, if not better. She had found him alone and wounded in a gas station just outside of Las Vegas a year ago. The black Doberman was most likely abandoned by his previous owners because of his wounds - or perhaps they didn't have enough food to feed another mouth - Alice wasn't sure. Either way, after she patched him up she just didn't have the heart to leave him alone again.

The outbreak hit the world hard and fast. It spread itself so quickly that even the most gifted biologist had yet to determine whether it was a pathogen or a flaw in human physiology. Nations allied and the military swooped in to attempt to neutralize the threat, yet it only brought more death and destruction to a world that was already on the verge of extinction.

Alice traveled solo for the most part and never stayed with one group for too long. She helped their wounded and moved on. She had faced death every day at work without so much as a second thought, but now that the world had literally ended, she felt completely powerless against it.

She thought it might have been because she was scared to fight them, the revenants, the zombies, the undead. Take your pick, it seemed that every group at their own word of endearment for them. Alice was never agile with a firearm, but she possessed a black belt in the martial art of Krav Maga and had recently become an instructor. Though, no matter how hard she knocked down the undead, they got up again and again until a bullet or a knife badly damaged the integrity of their brain.

Eventually, Alice had to learn to defend herself with a weapon. She chose to dual wield knives and has become quite proficient disposing of the undead with them. She never understood the love for automatic weapons everyone seemed to have - she had always stuck to her Kukri blades. It reminded her of her life before: her surgical tools could either save a life or take it with one precise cut.

Regaining that control hadn't erased the feeling of extreme anxiety she felt when working on a survivor bitten in a place she damn well knew the spread of infection or virus couldn't be stopped. She knew what would happen in the next twelve hours, but from some misplaced hope, their loved ones thought it would be different for them. They were dead wrong. That kind of thinking could cost them their lives, and most of the time it did. This may well be what the woman feared the most.

Alice gazed upwards and noted it must have been close to 7 am from the blaring sun's position into the blue sky. She lowered the hood of her green jacket down on her eyes and lifted the makeshift scarf, she had made from an old shirt, over her mouth and nose. California was the sunny state for a reason, but the Nevada desert was a bitch compared to what she was used to.

"Let's go Kratos," She and Kratos moved away from the wall and trekked across the deserted street towards the convenience store. Alice didn't have a map, but she spotted a sign that read 'Tonopah' as they entered the small town. Mountains shielded most of it from being claimed by the sand, which had been the unfortunate case in most of the larger cities she had visited. Alice gladly welcomed the change of scenery, though.

She gripped the handle of one of her Kukri blades as her other hand pressed down against the stained glass of the store's front door. She halted her movements and looked up to see if there was a doorbell. Relieved to see none, Alice cautiously entered with Kratos in tow.

It didn't take the traveler much time to notice the store had been picked clean months ago. Nothing remained on the shelves but dust and empty wrappers. Dried blood colored the walls and the floor to give it that cozy, homey feel.

Alice chuckled humourlessly as she bent down on one knee in front of the Doberman. She laid a hand down on his head and ruffled his short hair affectionately. "Guess our luck just ran out, buddy. What do you say? We scavenge the rest of the town or we move on?" Wherever that may be.

Kratos moved towards the front door and barked. He then sat down and cocked his head sideways as he stared at his master.

"You're right, this post-apocalyptic chic decor isn't for me either." They still had enough food and water for a day's travel and there probably wasn't much of anything to be found here. Hopefully, the next town would be close enough. She wouldn't voice her concerns out loud, though, she didn't want to stress Kratos out. He was a real worrywart.

The Doberman barred his teeth at her and Alice frowned at his odd behavior, until she heard shuffling behind her. She spun around and swiftly flipped the sneaky undead onto his back. He fell on the ground with a thud, loud groans escaped his half decapitated mouth as he attempted to grasp Alice with his free hand.

The woman unsheathed her Kukri and pinned the undead's hand with her foot before she lurched down and impaled her blade deep within his skull. Blood sprayed out from the wound as Alice removed her weapon from the newly created cavity. She made an over-dramatic disgusted face at Kratos and quickly cleaned her blade before she strapped it back against her hip.

"What would I do without you, huh?" Alice smiled at him as he playfully barked at her. He nudged her hand and was rewarded with affectionate scratching behind his perked ears.

The pair made their way down the road quietly until they reached a sign that read 'Phoenix, 52.3 mi.' "Would you look at that." Alice chuckled, with renewed faith and a quicker step.

Kratos whined but nonetheless followed her.

"Come on, it's only 50 miles! Where's your runner's spirit?"

Kratos replied with another whine.

Alice rolled her eyes, "you big baby."

Kratos then 'accidentally' bumped into her and he even had the nerve to gaze her way with innocent, irresistible puppy dog eyes.

The woman laughed and shook her head, excited to finally come across a big city. They usually were hotspots for activity; both for the undead and the living. Though, Alice had no other choice; and it was a chance she was willing to take for both her and Kratos.

* * *

Claire Redfield stood in front of a crowd of familiar faces. Ones she liked and ones she disliked. In this brave new world, however, faces you used to dislike could tip the balance between surviving and perishing. She had been elected as their leader because they wanted one, not because they truly needed one.

After the initial panic of the outbreak, survival took its turn for the worst. Brother turned against brother for food and supplies, even if it was to survive just one more day. They had no safe haven to come to; no place to call home. Claire figured if she gave these people a sanctuary and a common goal, then comradery and order would be restored.

Turns out she had been absolutely right. After months of hard work, Phoenix's South Mountain Village was completed shielded off from the rest of the city. The mountains behind them provided more than enough protection from the undead, while the ten-foot walls kept every other hostile parties out.

Two watchtowers were built on opposite sides of the wall. Rubble was cleared and what remained of the old buildings were used as walls to reinforce the many structures they built, while the rest of it was cleared and taken down to make enough room for new structures.

The barracks had been constructed against the south wall and housed the survivors who had no next of kin. Military tents were set up for those with families and for those wanting to start a family. Claire couldn't understand how someone would want to bring a baby into this world, but perhaps to some, it was the last shred of humanity they clung onto.

The most precious form of electricity were batteries; the rest was pretty useless. No working electrical outlets meant no cooking appliances, so they built a large fire pit and a smoking hut next to the open mess hall; which was really just a few support beams and a poor excuse for a ceiling to shield them from the midday sun.

Claire had welcomed two very skilled engineers a few years back. They helped her construct wells and makeshift showers around the camp. They also lead well-digging expeditions operations outside of the settlement and around the city of Phoenix where they collected a fair amount of water on a daily basis.

Her brother, Chris, was in charge of rescue and scavenging operations, while their longtime friend Jill Valentine was in charge of Arcadia's defense. Without them, and every single survivor, this settlement wouldn't be half of what it is today. Claire was an extremely skilled and charismatic leader, but she couldn't take care of everything.

During its construction, they named the settlement Arcadia after a radio transmission that ran on for months on every frequency. It promised safe shelter free of undead in Alaska, out of all places. Claire had no idea where it came from, or who had sent them, but it certainly helped to populate their camp as most survivors recognized the name instantly upon seeing it engraved on their front gate.

Before the outbreak, Claire had been forced by her parents to enroll in the military with her brother when the school life hadn't turned out so well for her. Her time as a marksman only lasted two tours. Even though she loved seeing heads explode in her TGR's sights, she hated her time on deployment, unlike her brother.

After she left the force, Claire gravitated towards what she truly loved: tinkering, fixing and repairing. She earned a GED in auto mechanic and worked at a small shop until their world was thrown into a dark and gritty era. Along with her leader duties, she has since been taking care of the vehicles they have and made a hobby out of modding their weapons.

Claire regarded each of the faces of those she came to know over the last four years behind her dark tinted sunglasses. Her face was shrouded behind an army green face bandana that covered her mouth and nose. Red scarred skin showed on the exposed space between the bandana and her sunglasses, just beneath her left eye.

"You know the drill," Claire moved in front of the military Lorry truck they used for transportation outside of the camp. "Kill any undead you see. Priorities for today is food and gas. If there are survivors, bring them here. Chris, you'll lead team A." She nodded at her brother.

Chris stood tall and taut, his hair had been cut high and tight just as he had always worn it. Caire couldn't recall a time he didn't have it this way. He wore his old USM BDU's, which seriously needed to be changed. Claire told him every day, but he always denied it and explained how comfortable they were now that he had broken them in for the last four years.

Claire then moved her concealed gazed towards a smaller woman. "Jill, you get team B," Claire commanded.

Jill acknowledged the order with a two finger salute. Her head was covered with a worn out cap; dark shoulder length hair flowed freely underneath it. She too opted to wear her old BDU pants and undershirt. Though, Jill found the light tactical vest she always wore was far more comfortable without the jacket underneath.

"If you run into trouble, report to your leaders. If they get in trouble, let me know when you get back so I can personally kick their asses." Chuckles erupted from the crowd as amused faces, grins and smirks alike were directed towards Claire "Report in every hour, as usual. Jill, you're Whiskey Bravo One, and Chris, you're Whiskey Alpha One." They had stuck to military callsigns as it made communications much easier during their ventures out of the settlement.

"That's all. Go, have fun. And if someone finds me some damn cigarettes there's going to be a glass of bourbon with your name on it when you get back." eyes lit up at the mention of liquor just like Claire knew it would. It was one of the rarest things to find out there and naturally became the most sought after consumable.

When the teams moved out, Claire retreated back to her tent. She removed her sunglasses and scarf before taking a seat on the uncomfortable cot she called a bed. Sighing, the woman could feel a headache coming on. Soon, the scar on her face throbbed in tandem with the pain in her temple.

She bent down and grabbed the bottle of liquor under her bed. She then popped it open and took a long swig out of it. The burn of the alcohol slowly numbed her pain. The scar was four years old, yet it looked fresh; angry and red. The desert air hadn't helped and did quite a number on it. The skin all around it was dry and cracked and seemed to crack open wider each day.

Claire took a glance at her reflection in the mirror and snarled at the face that stared back at her. She shook her head and took one last swig out of the bottle, closed it and carelessly chucked it under her bed.

Claire practically threw herself back on the cot and fell into a liquor induced restless sleep.

* * *

Alice and Kratos arrived in Phoenix a long seventeen hours later in the middle of the night. Stars lit up the sky, and the cool breeze was a nice change from the crushing weight of the desert's humid days. The pair stealthily moved amongst the decomposed bodies, sand dunes, rusted cars and other objects that littered the once crowded streets.

Alice had spotted the large structure just a mile out from where she had entered the city and was determined to find out what it was. With peaked curiosity, they quietly rounded the hordes of undead aimlessly wandering around until they reach what looked more and more like a large settlement.

Alice hid behind the old carcass of a car as she spotted the watch towers; one sniper guarded each. What the hell is this place? The front gate was about a 100 yards out and lit up with torches. Wooden spikes protruded from most of the outside walls, creating a macabre decor of impaled undead; some fresher than others, Alice noticed.

She couldn't decide whether they would be friend or foe, but her dry mouth and empty stomach screamed at her to at least do something. She turned to Kratos, who stared back at her with a puzzled look on his face. She smiled and whispered to him, "why don't you go and greet our friends?" His tail wagged in excitement and Alice chuckled as she snapped her fingers and pointed towards the front gate. "Get."

The large dog made a show of limping and whining as he made his way towards the entrance. The guards spotted him in just a few seconds. They both exchanged hand signals from a distance and after a few quiet moments, the front gate loudly creaked open.

Good boy, Alice smirked as she watched a woman emerged from behind the large doors. Her hair was distinctively red - more like auburn- but Alice couldn't make her any other facial feature as she was partially hidden under a scarf.

She watched as Kratos lead the woman away from the entrance as he pretended to be frightened by her. The woman approached him slowly, getting further and further away from the door in the process. When they were far enough, knowing the guard's attention would be on them, Alice sneaked passed and entered the large compound.

Holy shit. Alice had seen her fair share of settlements and camps, but this was a whole other level. It was practically a town on its own. It didn't give off any 'evil' vibe to say the least, but the woman decided it was best to make sure and explore a little. Besides, would they really miss a little food and water?

Alice moved into the closest tent, which was ways apart from all the others. No one was here, but it was definitely occupied. There was a cot in the left corner with disheveled sheets half hanging off of it. There was also a simple wooden dresser and a mirror on the right wall of the tent. What looked like a military supply box lay on the ground, at the foot of the cot. Locked, of course.

There was a picture frame of the woman that was with Kratos, though she had barely recognized her without the scarf; that and she seemed much younger. There was also a young man with her in the picture. Both of them were dressed in BDU's. Siblings? She thought. Her musings were interrupted by the distinct sound of a weapon being cocked.

"Nice trick," the woman spoke, angered that she actually fell for it. Damn, cute dogs.

Alice turned around slowly with both of her hands raised up in surrender. She came face to face with a beretta 22 pointed at her head and a pair of furious green eyes. She noticed the scar almost instantly, and the physician in her wanted to reach out to examine it.

Alice decided that telling the woman, who was holding her at gunpoint, that she hadn't taken very good care of that scar probably was a very bad idea. Instead, she remained quiet and examined her.

Her clothes screamed simple efficiency: she had a black t-shirt that clung to her developed muscles, dark ripped jeans that outlined strong legs and a pair of combat boots. Her accessories consisted of a drop down leg holster and a double shoulder holster that held the woman's other Baretta.

Alice heard the confidence in her voice and noticed it in her posture as well. If she had to take an educated guess, she would say that this woman was the leader - or one of them at least. "Look, I'm not here to cause any trouble."

She narrowed her eyes at the intruder, "you already did." She was puzzled as to what this woman's angle was. Many survivors attempted to infiltrate this settlement, much less creatively than her, but the ones that succeeded always wanted one of two things: food or weapons. The dark circles under the blonde's eyes and her dried lips were a very good indicator of hunger and dehydration.

"You can trust me," Alice attempted. It seemed weak; an empty promise to someone who didn't know her. Nonetheless, it was a truthful statement. Alice had no intention of hurting anyone. She simply wanted food and water and the possibility of a good night's rest.

The redhead chuckled. Right. Trust. "Sure, like you trust me?"

Alice chuckled and licked her dry lips. "Good point," she rasped with a raised eyebrow.

"Could have knocked." She examined the blonde woman for a moment: her soft blue eyes looked far from menacing. If anything she really looked desperate for supplies. So, why would she sneak in instead of simply asking? She understood how hard it was to differentiate friend from foe these days, but it was gray decisions like those that made it that much harder.

Alice simply shrugged, "Could have. Didn't. Wanted a better idea of what this place was before I announced my presence."

"Could have knocked," the woman threw back at her once more.

Alice opened her mouth to retaliate, but a man entered the tent, automatic weapon in hand. "Claire! We've got a problem."

"I know," Claire answered her brother quickly and never let her gaze off of the blonde.

"Not her. Raiders. Lots of them." His words were rushed and, it was clear he had run all the way here from where he was.

"If I find out you had anything to do with this-" Claire's eyes pierced into hers like daggers. She shifted her weight on her left foot, the scrutiny of the woman's stare making her feel less than comfortable. Alice could practically see a fire being ignited in those dark pupils.

"Claire, come on. We can deal with her later," the man reasoned. Alice recognized him from the picture on Claire's desk.

"Stay here," she told Alice pointedly, then turned to exit the tent.

She released the breath she had been holding in once she was alone in the tent. Nice going, moron. You really should have knocked. Alice poked her head out of the tent and whistled loudly. A few moments later, Kratos entered and ran towards Alice excitedly.

Even though Alice was quite certain this Claire woman wouldn't be happy about her next decision, she just couldn't ignore the thunderous battle going on outside. Besides, they probably needed help, Alice reasoned.

She bent down and scratched Kratos' chin. "Stay here boy, I'll be right back."

The Doberman obediently stayed behind and watched Alice's retreating form, both kukri blades clutched into her hands.


	2. One More Time

"Sound the Alarm, and close the damn gate!" Claire yelled over the sounds of gunfire that ignited the otherwise quiet night. Revenants were attracted to loud noise and they really didn't need a second enemy here tonight. The gates closed behind the raiders, locking them in and preventing anyone else from entering.

The loud siren, which was sure to worsen Claire's already throbbing headache, alerted the survivors to regroup in the barracks and lock down. It had been designated by Jill as a muster point in case of emergency and held a few day's worth of rations. It was also the sturdiest building in the settlement.

Trenches had been created at the front entrance with tactical sandbags. Behind them, a large walkway that connected both of the watchtowers held their second line of defense.

Claire ran towards the trenches and slid to cover as she dodged bullets that just barely missed her by inches. She blindly fired a few shots from behind the sandbags and turned to Jill who clearly was enjoying herself a little too much. "Get that damn smirk off your face and hold this line. No one gets passed you."

Claire wasn't sure if the raiders had already made it past their defense line during the initial attack. If Jill and Chris were here fighting their backup, then the rest were somewhere in the settlement. "I'm heading back," she announced.

"Sir, yes, Sir." Jill had replied with a lewd wink and an even wider grin than before.

"Asshole," Claire muttered under her breath with a smirk as she emptied the rest of her clip at the raiders.

Rapidly, she changed her mag and ran back towards the camp and came to a stop in front the first tent she came by. She poked her head in and found three pairs of frightened eyes trained on her. They softened, however, the moment they recognized their leader. "Let's go, guys, make it quick."

She let the family of three walk in front of her as she continued down the row of tents. Some were empty as a good portion of the survivors had already had reached the barracks. After clearing everyone else out, Claire and the remainder of the survivors set out for the safe muster point.

An arm around quickly slipped around her waist and another around her neck stopped her in her tracks. She kicked her feet and let out a strangled scream but the raider only squeezed his bicep against her jugular that much harder. Claire watched in terror as the other two men fired on the survivors whom all scattered in attempts to avoid the bullets.

Not tonight, fucker. Claire jabbed her elbow into his rib cage and flipped him on his back. A bullet to the head took care of him. She then trained her Baretta's sights on the two others and shot both of their knees off. The yelled in pain before they collapsed on the ground, disarmed and incapacitated.

Claire walked up to the trembling raiders and wanted to kick their guns away. Once she got there, she decided to bash in both the faces with the heel of her boot. They were now disarmed, incapacitated and looked like badly blended fruit juice.

Satisfied, Claire finally continued her trek to the barracks. As she ran, her legs felt like cement blocks, her lungs burned painfully and ignited a fire inside her chest. Just as her hand grasped the doorknob, a harsh blow to the head knocked her out.

* * *

Alice exited the tent carefully as she silently moved through the shadows to give herself a tactical advantage, seeing as she had brought knives - although very sharp - to a gunfight. She hid behind what looked like empty ammo crates as she scanned the area; the settlement seemed empty and quiet. The only noises came from the firefight at the front entrance.

It was a good sign, she thought. It looked like they had been able to contain and pin down the raiders in one specific spot. The blaring of the sirens was most likely used to alert the survivors. Military tactics at their best. No wonder they've been able to hold this place for so long. Perhaps they didn't need her help after all. Alice couldn't flank them from behind as the gate was closed, and there's was no way she could come at them from the front with the weapons she had.

She changed her mind, however, when she heard a gunshot and a loud scream that came from the building across of Claire's tent. A single raider dutifully guarded the entrance of said building and Alice smirked at their incompetent tactics. Easy.

She moved from cover to cover and quietly made her way across while she kept her eyes trained on the guard who seemed unaware of her presence.

Once she was behind the building, she slid across the left wall until she was near the front. In one rapid movement, she gripped the raider's arm and jerked him behind to where she was; his back hit her front as her boot came in contact with the back of his knee. He fell down to his knees harshly, and before he could utter a single sound she snapped his neck.

Alice had seen the raiders a few times during her travels, though, she had never dared to attack them. They traveled in big groups and armed themselves with automatic weapons. Alice's only tactic against them was simply to sneak her way past them as initiating a gunfight would certainly not be in her favor.

They worked with one goal in mind it seemed, and that was to get what they want regardless of who they have to murder to do so. She had seen them murder children and animals and there wasn't a single thing she could have done to stop them then. Today, however, she had a choice. Perhaps the remorse would hit her once the adrenaline would be flushed from her system, but right now that point was moot.

This building had no windows which forced Alice to go in blind and hope she could save whoever was in there if they were still alive. She stood facing the front door, the grip on her weapons tightened considerably as she took a deep breath.

If she was truthful with herself, Alice had no idea why she was even doing this. She wasn't a fighter, really, she knew how to protect herself and Kratos well enough, but that was the extent of it. So why did she feel the need to help these people? She decided that the prospect of a reward in the form of a meal helped her fuel the fight in her. Though scared shitless, Alice kicked down the door she faced anyway.

Her eyes scanned the room with a robot-like precision she didn't even know she had. There were three raiders: one holding Claire at gunpoint, one to her left who had a shotgun - fuck me - and one to her left who had fortunately been knocked down by the door when she burst it. There was a young woman here too. She was laying on the ground, a pool of blood spewed out of her chest. She was still breathing, though, Alice noticed.

Her eyes locked with Claire's piercing green eyes for the second time tonight, and decided she'd much rather have the redhead look at her this way than the daggers she shot her back in the tent.

Her decision had been made.

The kick she delivered to the downed raider's jaw knocked him out cold. She turned her body to face the raider to her left. As he moved his arms to train the barrel of his shotgun onto Alice's chest, she sliced both his arms off before his finger even had the chance to ghost over the trigger. A surgically precise cut to his throat sealed his fate, his blood sprayed onto the woman's clothes and face as he fell in a heap on the wooden floor.

Claire grabbed the handgun trained on her head and punched the raider's wrist. Pain shot up all the way to his elbow and caused him to drop his weapon right into Claire's hands. Next thing he knew, he was on the ground with a knee painfully pressed into his rib cage, his arm held tightly at an awkward angle and his own gun pressed against his temple.

Claire jerked his head towards Alice, "Do you know her?" When he didn't reply, she pressed down on his rib cage while she simultaneously pulled on the arm she had in a tight hold.

He screamed out in pain and yelled: "No! No! I don't know the bitch-" His sentence was abruptly interrupted as Claire pulled the trigger against his temple. "Good," she stood up and instantly rushed to the young woman's side. "K-mart," Gently, Claire cradled her head in her hands as she stared down into a pair of unfocused and glazed hazel eyes. "K-mart, please, stay with me."

K-mart hadn't responded to her name and Alice knew the woman was starting to slip into unconsciousness from the blood loss. "Claire," she spoke softly, "Do you have an infirmary?"

Claire nodded, her jaw clenched tightly as she fought her tears from spilling out.

"Bring her," Alice sighed. The scene before her all too familiar. You can do something about it. Do it. She placed her hand on Claire's shoulder, "I was a doctor. I can help her."

That seemed to get Claire moving as she gathered the young woman into her arms and rushed out of the building "This way!" she yelled over her shoulder.

Alice followed her and shed her blood soaked jacket and scarf as they entered the medical clinic. There were six beds lined up next to each other on the far corner of the room. A lone stretcher sat in the middle of the room, next to it a tray with some equipment and a lantern served as the only lighting in here. Next to it, there was a large wooden cabinet filled with medical supplies. Not bad.

Alice rushed to the cabinet and hastily gathered a pair of gloves and a suturing kit. She turned and watched as Claire placed K-mart on the stretcher and tightly gripped the young woman's hand. Her fingers worked through the blonde's hair as she whispered something Alice couldn't quite pick up.

A wave of nausea suddenly hit the doctor, and she almost dropped her tools on the ground. Dammit, Alice. Get it together. You've done this a thousand times. What if I can't save her? What then? I won't just destroy one life, I'll destroy two. Alice shook her head, as she fought to ignore the self-inflicted negativity she made herself believe.

"Alice!"

Claire's voice brought her out of her anxiety induced stupor, but she didn't hear the rest of her sentence. With a shaky breath, Alice forced herself towards the pair and placed the suturing kit on the medical tray.

She then slipped on a pair of gloves and extracted the toothed forceps from the kit. "Hey, sweetie," Alice requested K-mart's attention as she prepped the equipment. A tactic she used almost every time. "What's your name?" Alice asked, even though she heard Claire speak it just moments ago.

"I-it's K-mart." She clutched Claire's hand tighter as she turned towards the blonde stranger. Why can't I feel my arm? The pain in her chest radiated outwards and was strong enough to make her feel nauseous, but the adrenaline had numbed most of her extremities. She heard a loud noise and drowsily looked downwards to see that Alice had ripped her shirt open to expose her chest where the bullet hole was.

"K-mart?" Alice chuckled and send a sideways glance towards Claire, who nodded. "And how did you get that nickname?" She continued to talk to the young girl as she gently cleaned most of the blood from around the wound.

"Claire-Claire found me there...three years ago. It just stuck, y'know?" She slurred slightly with dropping eyelids.

Alice smiled at the admission as she cleaned the forceps with an antiseptic cloth. The wound was deep, but the bullet hadn't gone all the way through. She would have to remove the bullet, along with all the shrapnel that could have embedded itself in the wound. Patients are usually sedated during this painful process, but Alice hadn't seen any in the cabinets. "Claire, do you know if there's any morphine here?"

"We had a whole lot, but one of the survivors become addicted to them. Before we figured it out, he had gone through all of them." Asshole's lucky he's dead, Claire thought darkly.

Alice figured from the leader's grim tone that the man hadn't survived. An addiction to morphine would eventually stop anyone's heart, no matter how healthy they were.

Such a waste, Alice thought, to survive the world literally ending only to fall prey of an addiction. "You're going to have to hold her."

Claire nodded and moved behind K-mart's head.

K-mart instantly panicked as she lost sight of the redhead, "Claire..where?"

"I'm here, K," Claire gently shushed.

K-mart visibly relaxed as she felt Claire's hands push her shoulder down on the stretcher. A burning hot sensation pulsed throughout her chest. Tears ran down her reddened face as she held back a scream, only to let it out once the forceps Alice held came in contact with a part of the bullet. The pain radiated from her chest and followed a straight line all the way to her neck. Her jaw burned from how tightly she clamped her teeth together.

Alice removed the biggest part of the bullet and threw it on the metallic tray with a loud clunk, which colored the previously clean tool with a bright crimson hue. "You're doing great," she encouraged with a soft smile as she cleaned the blood that had resurged from the wound once she had dislodged the bullet. She took her time, giving K-mart a much-deserved break. She was impressed the young woman was still awake.

Alice's eyes caught a glimpse of a shiny piece of shrapnel that protruded from the wound. She gazed at Claire once more, almost apologetically.

As if she had read the doctor's mind, Claire braced herself to hold K-mart down once more.

"One more time, K. You can do this," Claire whispered as she bent down and kissed the damp forehead beneath her. K-mart's screams almost broke her. Her legs felt like jelly and Claire had no idea how she was still standing. She caught a glimpse of Alice's kind eyes, however, which seemed to help her regain control over her emotions. How does she do that?

The last piece of shrapnel was discarded in the tray along with the forceps. "The wound's all cleaned up. I just need to close it up and we'll be done here." Alice caught K-mart's gaze and held it. She wanted to distract her as much as she could as she started suturing the wound.

"You know, you're the toughest patient I've ever had," Alice passed the needle through the reddened skin and did the same on the other side. "And I've had many, many patients over the years," she pulled on the string gently which brought both pieces of skin together. "I've done this on men four times your size who had the luxury of getting injected with morphine. They passed out before I even started cleaning the wound." That earned her a smile from both K-mart and Claire; she couldn't see the woman's mouth from under the scarf, but she could see the smile had reached her eyes.

Alice finalized suturing the bullet hole in silence. She then cleaned the area around the wound one last time before she applied a sterilized piece of gauze and strapped it with an adhesive bandage. "All done," Alice announced as she removed and disposed of her blood-stained latex gloves.

Claire felt K-mart's hand sneak its way into hers; her chest has never felt this full, she thought with wonder. The prospect of losing the young woman was too much for her to bear. "You did good K," she announced proudly as she kissed the girl's hand in hers.

Alice wanted to smile at the scene before her, but the nausea came back like a sucker punch right in her gut. "She should rest. I'll stay with her."

Claire left K-mart's side to stand in front of Alice, with her arms crossed over her chest. "I can't begin to thank you enough."

"Don't worry about it," Alice waved it off. It's my job, she wanted to say. Even if it wasn't true anymore, she still felt like it was.

"I'll go check on the others and I'll have them send food and water here. You must be starving," Claire placed her gloved hand on the woman's arm and squeezed it lightly

No. Not really. Just nauseous, thanks. "Alright," Alice nodded as she watched Claire exit the infirmary. She looked down at the spot on her arm where Claire's hand had been. Before tonight, she wouldn't have guessed the woman to have such a caring and gentle personality. Claire wasn't just a leader, she was one of them; human. And that's what kept her from becoming a tyrant.

Alice glanced at K-mart, who regarded her with a tired smile and drooping eyelids. She turned to the cabinet and extracted a bottle of pills. She shook two out of it and gave them to the young blonde. "Take these. They'll help with the swelling," she explained quietly.

After K-mart ingested the pills, Alice helped her off of the stretcher and brought her to one of the empty beds. Before Alice moved away, cold fingers wrapped themselves around her wrist.

"Thank you."

There were two very simple words, and yet they managed to make Alice remember all the times she hadn't heard them because she lost a patient, because she couldn't save them. A heavy weight installed itself on her chest; she desperately needed to get out.

Alice covered K-mart's hand with her own. "Rest now," she spoke softly before leaving the clinic. Once she stepped foot outside, Alice slumped against the side of the building as she had an increasingly hard time taking deep breaths. The hyperventilation caused by the panic attack brought on a sea of drowsiness and another wave of nausea.

I can't do this. I can't do this. She repeated in her head like a mantra. Eventually, she calmed herself by reciting long and complicated medical terms. Once she regained control of herself, Alice marched to Claire's tent to pick up Kratos with every intention of leaving this place.

The Doberman instantly perked up at the sight of Alice. He ran into her legs and rubbed his nose against her hand as he demanded she pet him. "We're leaving, boy. Come on." When Alice turned around, she came face to face with Claire. She had already let the woman sneak up on her twice today. Damn, how does she do that?

Claire's hands instinctively went to her hips, as she narrowed her eyes at the blonde woman. "What are you doing here? I thought you said you were going to stay with K-mart."

"I'm sorry. I can't," was Alice's vague answer.

"You can't what ?" There was that fire in her eyes again.

"I'm not cut out for this...Living with people." Alice started pacing around the small tent, "And I know you're going to ask me to stay because of what I can do. They all do." Every group she had come across had asked her to be their doctor, but she had always declined. She wasn't going to let Claire ask her because she feared that she'd say yes. "What if I can't save them?"

"What if you can ?" That was enough to make Alice stop pacing. A step in the right direction, so to speak.

She shook her head and took a deep calming breath. "I can't save everyone, Claire." You'll just be disappointed. Like they all eventually are.

"I'm not asking you too, and I won't force you to stay either here if you don't want to. But I know that we'd be better with you. For the last four years, we've relied on a veterinarian that lives all the way across the city for help. Do you know how many people I lost while we waited for him to get here? So no, I'm not asking you to save everyone, I'm asking you to do your best and save the ones you can."

Claire thought if Alice could relate her loss to her, she'd understand it was part of their world now and there was no escaping. "Stay here tonight and think about it," she proposed thoughtfully. She already knew, by the way Alice's blue eyes had softened and were far less panicky than a minute ago, that she had convinced her.

Alice let her shoulders slump down, defeated. Perhaps Claire was right and she had been looking at this situation all wrong, but she still didn't feel comfortable being responsible for these people's lives. "I'll sleep in the infirmary."

Claire nodded, "I'll come by later to check in on her."

Alice snapped her fingers at Kratos, who was up and at her side in an instant. After exchanging tense good night's, Alice and Kratos left the tent and walked across the camp, en route to the clinic she had abandoned earlier.

Alice couldn't stop thinking about how Claire had figured her out and had already used it against her. Of course a hot redhead would be the one to break me, and of course, I'd just sit back and let her do it.

Alice kicked a rock that had rolled underneath her heel.

Shit.

* * *

Alice slowly opened her eyes only to jump back in shock, and hit her head against the wall in the process, at the proximity of the face in front of hers.

"Oh my God, Alice are you okay?" K-mart asked worriedly but nonetheless burst out in barely contained laughter.

"I'll live," she groaned as she rubbed the back of her head. She took in the sight of the young woman, who seemed to have regained all of her energy and the pink color in her face - or maybe that was because you sleep naked and she can see your breasts. Horrified, Alice covered herself up and attempted to diffuse the awkward tension. "You seem...better."

"Thanks to you," K-mart smiled affectionately, as she cheeks reddened once more but not because of the doctor's indecent exposure this time.

You know, if these people would just stop thanking me I'd feel a lot way less homicidal. "No problem." Was that another blush? Great.

"Claire came by earlier, but you were snoring so loud you probably didn't hear anything." She stopped when Alice frowned at the mention of her thunderous snoring. "Don't worry she thinks it was cute. Oh, and she left some water there for you and a change of clothes too. If you're hungry, breakfast is probably ready."

Wow, okay, that was a lot of words to process. Alice, however, only focused on the jug of water next to her bed. She reached for it and chugged it with relentless thrust. Once empty, Alice finally took in a deep breath, her lungs burned as if she had been underwater for way too long.

K-mart made a face, "I hope you have better table manners than that."

Alice chuckled and raised an eyebrow at the young woman. "I really don't."

"Figures," K-mart rolled her eyes dramatically to show Alice she was just joking. "Join us in the mess hall when you're ready."

Alice saluted K-mart's retreating form while she watched the bounce in her step with a smile. She made a note to ask Claire how she dealt with the young woman's barrage of thousand questions. She felt it would come in very handy.

After a while, Alice's grumbling stomach won the fight and she reluctantly got up from the bed. She hadn't slept in something so comfortable in a long while.

Alice stretched her arms above her head, her muscles felt tight and sore from last night's fighting. A little more stretching popped everything back into place.

She dressed in the dark fitted jeans and the black t-shirt that had been given to her. She then clipped her blade's holster around her waist, slipped into her boots and made her way outside. The humid air she had been accustomed to welcomed her as soon as she stepped out.

Alice shielded her eyes from the sun with a gloved hand as she scanned the camp. Once she spotted the mess hall, she made her way over and joined K-mart and Claire.

K-mart happily patted the seat beside her, which Kratos gladly took as he jumped up beside the giggling woman.

"Kratos! Get down from there," Alice scolded while Claire and K-mart praised the Doberman for his bad behavior. She snapped her fingers and he reluctantly did as he was told and fell into step with his master.

"How long have you had him for?" K-mart asked as Alice took the empty seat beside her.

"About a year."

"Did you name him?"

"Yes."

"You like Greek Gods then, huh?"

"Sure," Alice replied with a shrug.

Claire gave the young woman a look and she instantly got the message to cease fire on her twenty questions and let Alice eat. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but K-mart was sure that one look from Claire was worth way more than that. It's the commanding eyes, she pondered thoughtfully as she munched on a piece of bread.

Alice fell silent as she devoured her food with an appetite she wasn't aware she had. Her plate was filled with fresh vegetables and some kind of meat. She had almost forgotten how delicious fresh food tasted. They must have a greenhouse, Alice thought around a mouthful of tomato.

As they were finishing their plate, a man Alice recognized as Claire's brother and another woman joined them at their table.

Chris was the first one to introduce himself as he extended his arm towards the blonde. "I'm Chris. Claire's brother."

"Jill Valentine. At your service," Jill enunciated with a wink as they shook hands.

Everyone rolled their eyes at her predictable line.

Alice nodded politely, wondering if everyone here would proposition her today. She could even make a game out of it: laugh out loud every time someone flirted with her. In retrospect, she wasn't sure that was such a good idea. Though it did take her mind away from all the stares she got from the survivors around them. She really hated being showered with attention.

"I would thank you for saving my sister's ass last night, but I'm sure you're getting a lot of that around here." Alice's raised eyebrow was enough to show him he had been spot on with his observation, so he continued: "It's not a surprise, though. She has what you call a 'damsel in distress' syndrome," he turned his grin towards Claire, whom dangerously narrowed her eyes and him and then sent a piece of potato flying at his head, which he swiftly ducked.

"I'm pretty sure that syndrome isn't in the DSM-IV," Alice joked, but everyone stared at her blankly. Right, I'm the only Doctor here.

"Please speak human," Jill, for once, spoke what was on everyone's mind.

"It's a manual that classifies all mental disorders," Alice explained and then shifted her gaze onto Chris. "It'd be hard to believe she has that syndrome. I'm a doctor," she placed her hand over her puffed-up chest and held her head up high, "I would know." Alice used a tone that could best be described as over-confidence (and possibly a little lewd).

When their laughter died down, she regarded Claire with a soft smile and realized she had a very hard time taking her eyes off the confident green ones she seemed to be locked onto. "Besides, no damsel in distress I ever came across could disarm someone in just a few seconds like she did."

Jill cleared her throat, unnecessarily, and stood up. "Right, watching you two look at each other is enough to make horny. I'm going to go take a shower now," she announced, also quite unnecessarily.

It was at that precise moment when Claire almost fatally choked on a piece of tomato.

"I'm sorry about that, Jill has what you call a 'can't keep her mouth shut' syndrome," Chris replied for his sister, as she was still having trouble breathing correctly. Though he was sure it was just a sly cover to take the attention away from her furious blush.

"I have the DSM with me if you want to look at it? You'll be able to diagnose people with real diseases," Alice offered jokingly.

"Sure," Chris smiled and leaned forward towards Alice, "Me, you, the book and two cans of beans. What do you say?"

"Pass." Alright. They really are going to all proposition me. Alice guessed she should feel flattered by the interest.

"Chris," Claire barked before her tone took on an exaggerated sweetness: "could you and K-mart...go exist somewhere else?" She hadn't meant it harshly, though, and they both knew that.

The pair sported matching pouts as they stood up with their empty plates and left both women alone.

"He hasn't told me which syndrome he has," Alice spoke with mock-annoyance.

"I think it's the 'creepy brother who can't take a hint' syndrome," Claire answered with a grin.

"Right. I see it," Alice agreed with a smile.

"So, have you thought about it? Staying here with us? I know they can be a bit of...a handful, but they really are good people and they seem to really like you." For someone who spent a lot of time alone, Alice seemed to have a kind of natural charisma flowing out of her. It was almost magnetic, and slowly pulled everyone towards her. Claire was no exception, and a part of her was annoyed by how easily comfortable she felt around her.

Alice glanced at Kratos, who had been obediently sitting beside their table. He cocked his head at her. "What do you think, boy? Do you want to stay here for a while?" He jumped up and barked excitedly. With a chuckle, Alice turned back to Claire and shrugged. "Guess we're staying." At least for a little while. If it doesn't work out, we're out.

"I'll get your tent ready," Claire stood up and offered Alice her hand.

Alice got to her feet as well and grasped the woman's forearm. Somehow this warrior handshake was far better suited than just an old regular one.

When they let go of each other's arms, both women parted ways. Alice wanted to check on K-mart's wound to make sure she wasn't aggravating it and Claire needed to busy herself with putting together Alice's new living quarters.

The leader felt inexplicably happy and decided to blame it on the fact that the Arcadia now has its very own physician. House calls and all. Was it bad that Claire wanted a house call?

Trust a pretty blonde woman to disarm me. The worst part is I'm not even going to pretend to fight it.

Shit.


	3. Lifelines

"Looks good, you're healing really well."

K-mart smiled shyly as Alice inspected her wound. She wasn't used to being scrutinized and cared for this gently. Well, by anyone else other than Claire. She was like a sister to her; a mother even.

Yet, there was just something about Alice's eyes that pulled her in, but she also noticed, over the past few days, that they had the same effect on everyone that came into contact with the doctor.

Chris continuously attempted to trick her into going on a 'date' with him. The other day, he asked her if she wanted to walk Kratos and 'talk'. Ew? Creepy much. Chris was harmless, though, and he really was a great guy. K-mart began to wonder if he just acted this way with Alice to get a rise out of Claire.

Jill kept sending lewd comments her way any chance she got, which wasn't at all uncharacteristic. Everyone pretty much expected her too.

"Can you lift your left arm up for me?"

K-mart obediently lifted her arm until she felt a sting in her chest. She thought about how Chris and Jill had a thing once, or she just assumed they did. She really was good at reading people, though, and was usually right with her assumptions.

She had a hard time understanding why they weren't still having a 'thing'? It seemed the older you got, the more complicated relationships were. Or maybe old people just complicate their relationship on their own.

"That's good. Stop when it starts to hurt, I just want to see your progress. Now put both of your arms out in front of you and push against my hands."

The young blonde followed Alice's command and pushed against her hands until her shoulder burned. Either way, everyone was so busy getting lost in Alice's blue eyes that they didn't notice that a certain redhead held all her attention.

Seriously, K-mart was certain that the doctor's eyes were magnets that just stuck to Claire the moment she came into view. There really was no other explanation for it. Except maybe witchcraft, but she liked Alice far too much to associate such a negative word with her

"Now push on the outside." Alice's eyes intently watched the young woman's facial expressions. K-mart always pushed a little harder even though she had told her to stop when it hurt. "Okay, up." she sighed internally, somehow she just knew K-mart she got this bad habit from Claire. "Very good. Now, down." Though surviving in a world like this was bound to make anyone mentally and physically stronger. She couldn't discredit the young woman's bravery.

"So, what's the verdict Doc?"

"It's only been three days and you're already regaining strength. I'd say you're doing great." She truly was remarkable, Alice thought with a soft smile.

"I think it's because someone has been taking such good care of me," K-mart replied with sweetly and blushed in spite of herself. I really need to start working on that. Or not doing that, like at all.

Alice chuckled as she scribbled down K-mart's progress. "Have you been doing the exercises with the stress ball like I showed you?" The young woman nodded in response. "Good. You're free to go."

K-mart jumped down from the stretcher and linked her hands behind her back as she inched towards the blonde. "Uh, Claire wanted me to give you a tour of the settlement. Since you've been really busy since you got here she's afraid you'll become Arcadia's recluse and only come out of your hiding hole to eat."

Alice rose an eyebrow at the young woman, fighting a grin ( she was fighting a losing battle). "She told you that?"

"No, but I know it's what she meant," K-mart shrugged as if she had seer-like all-knowing powers. Alice wouldn't put it past her, the young girl really did have a really keen sense of intuition.

Alice shrugged as she scanned the clinic: there were no more wounded to take care of in the aftermath of the raider's break in. In the last three days, she had done an initial exam of every survivor in the settlement. Going in with the knowledge that they hadn't had a physical examination in a really long time, Alice wanted a better idea of what she needed to treat them correctly. She even kept files on all of them.

The only one that hadn't come to see her was Claire and when confronted about it, the woman pleaded she was swamped with leader-related things and just couldn't make time. She even played the 'my people are more important than me' card. What a little shit. I bet she was one of those kids who hated going to the doctor's office.

Now that Alice thought about it, she hadn't really left the clinic except to go back to her tent to retire for the evening, which had been her routine for the past three days. Even Kratos was feeling left out. She found him playing with a few kids the other day, and he had ignored her when she called him. Traitor.

"I do need to reintegrate myself into society someday," Alice joked as she put away K-mart's file in the cabinet where she kept the others, neatly placed in alphabetical order. Old habits die hard.

"Great! Come on," K-mart grasped Alice's hands with her good arm and wasn't so gentle about dragging the woman outside.

They came up on a building, with a newly repaired door, that Alice recognized instantly.

"This is the command station, as Claire and the others call it. They plan the supply runs and our engineers plan structural changes. I'm sure they just play pool and don't do anything serious in there most of the time."

"Sounds fun."

K-mart narrowed her eyes and she marched up to Alice, her finger pointed at her face that almost touched her nose. "Playing pool with Claire is anything but fun. She's a ruthless hustler. Never fall prey to her trickery!"

"I'll...keep that in mind?" It really sounded more like a question than a statement, but Alice didn't really know what to say. Perhaps the medication she gave her was a bit too strong?

The front door of the command station opened as Claire stormed out. She seemed distracted and tense. The woman only stopped to talk to them when she had practically run into the pair.

"Morning," Alice saluted the woman with a broad smile and noticed the woman's demeanor change instantly.

"I see K-mart is giving you the full low-down."

Alice stuffed her hands in her jean's pocket as she squinted her eyes and cursed the sun for having parked its ass behind Claire's head. "Yup."

"Good. I'll see you two later." Claire started to walk away, but stopped and turned to sent K-mart a teasing glare. "And K? Be nice."

The young woman pretended to be offended: "I'm always nice," she shouted to Claire's retreating form.

K-mart took hold of Alice's hand again as she dragged her towards the next building. The pair visited the greenhouse next, the garage where Claire worked (read 'hid') most of the time, the homemade gym, and the shooting range. Alice was truly impressed by it all. Arcadia was a great place to be and it was clear Claire had worked very hard to put it all together.

Maybe she'd stay a little longer than she had intended too.

* * *

"I really don't think that's a good idea, Chris."

"You haven't been out of this place for over a month," he pointed out.

Claire frowned and shrugged, wondering why that seemed like such a big deal to him and Jill. "I have plenty to do here," she told them.

"I know you, you already have that stir crazy look in your eye."

"I have no such thing!"

Jill sent Chris a dirty look and interjected: "Look, Claire, I think what your brother is trying to say is that a little walk outside would change your routine up a bit. Test out that new mod on your rifle. I know you've been dying to try it out." If that didn't get Claire to go out, Jill really didn't know what would.

"I can't leave them alone with Alice. She's a great fighter, but she's never shot a gun. I just can't risk it." She saw both of their mouths open, no doubt to convince her otherwise, but Claire was in no mood to discuss this further. Her decision had been made. "This discussion is over."

Claire left the command station and practically smacked into both Alice and K-mart. Once her eyes locked with brilliant blue ones she had forgotten what she had been mad about in the first place.

Though, the realization that she didn't fully trust Alice downed her mood considerably. She had spent the last four years making sure these people were safe, and as much as she was confident in Alice's abilities to lead, she just couldn't pass on the control to someone they had just met.

She exchanged a few words with them before retreating to her natural habitat: the garage. Getting greasy would no doubt get her mind off all this unnecessary drama her brother and Jill were so adamant creating with their newcomer.

Claire could take care of herself, she didn't need those two watching her every move like hawks.

* * *

Much later, Claire pushed her sunglasses on top of her head as she entered Alice's clinic. That statement was indeed accurate: Alice had really made the clinic her home and hadn't been shy about everything re-arranging everything for functionality. It certainly did look better than before; professional and orderly.

"Hey Doc, you got time?" Claire announced.

"Sure thing. Sit," Alice nodded at the stretcher and was already fetching a pair of gloves when her movements were halted by a single word from Claire.

"No. I-I just wanted to ask if you needed anything. We're going to hit a pharmacy today." Claire uncharacteristically rushed all her words out without taking much of a break in between them.

It seemed to Alice that it was Claire's way of apologizing. It was endearing to see the otherwise confident woman caught off guard for once.

"Oh," Alice hid the disappointment in her tone and threw the gloves back inside the box she had dug them out from. "Uh, yeah, actually. I'll make a list?"

Claire nodded as she leaned against the cabinets on one elbow, her other hand sitting on her hip as she watched Alice rummage through the medical supplies. She held a few bottles up in one hand and wrote on a piece of paper with the other.

Claire studied the woman's profile and noticed how her lips were pursed when she concentrated on writing and how her eyebrows creased slightly.

"That should be all, thanks."

Claire almost jumped as Alice moved in front of her. She hadn't seen her until she was practically inches away from her. Distracted much?

"And thank you for everything else." Alice was referring to the 'welcome gift' Claire had left in Alice's tent. It included a tactical vest, more clothes, a pair of boots, a jacket, sunglasses, gloves and a handgun - which Alice had promptly returned and explained that she didn't know how to use automatic weapons. Claire had been reluctant to take it back, but she respected Alice's choice nonetheless.

"You saved K-mart...and me," she added herself as an afterthought, "it's the least I could do."

"You know, I can take a look at that for you if you want." Alice was quiet for a moment, as she wondered if it had been the right time to bring it up as Claire just stared at her with a blank expression.

She shook her head and headed for the door. "It's fine. I'll see you at dinner." In one blink, she had left the clinic.

Alice wondered if Claire would ever let herself be taken care of. It's like she was afraid the strong, leader facade she kept up for everyone in the settlement would somehow magically disappear. Had she not realized vulnerability make is what shaped our strengths? That our weaknesses are what causes us to grow that much stronger? Alice made it her mission to show the woman what that meant exactly.

* * *

Alice, Claire, and K-mart were seated in the mess hall, eating their food in a comfortable silence when Claire's radio crackled with Chris' voice: "Eagle's nest, this is Whiskey Bravo one."

Claire grabbed the radio from where it sat on the table, next to her plate. "This is Sunray 6. Report Whiskey Bravo one."

"We're at the pharmacy. John's been bitten."

Shit. Claire locked eyes with Alice, who asked her where. "Where was he bitten?" Claire repeated to Chris.

"Single bite on his hand."

"Cut it off," Alice answered urgently. She didn't take her gaze off of Claire as she repeated Alice's words to Chris again.

"What?" came the puzzled answer.

Alice almost wanted to grab the radio and yell at him to hurry the fuck up and cut is damn hand off, but it seemed like Claire had read her mind.

"Just do it, Chris. Cut the damn thing off and get back here ASAP. What's your ETA?"

They heard some shuffling until Jill's voice filtered through: "Roger that. ETA 10 minutes."

"Over and out," Claire slammed the radio back on the table with a sigh. She looked down at the food on her plate and realized she had lost her appetite. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Positive," Alice nodded confidently.

"How?"

"The virus is transmitted by bites or scratches, which means it travels through our bloodstream. Since the blood in our extremities takes longer to get from our heart to our fingers, it also takes longer for the blood that's in there to get back up to our heart. A person becomes infected when the virus reaches their heart and infects the rest of their blood. If you cut off the infected limb right away, the virus won't have time to make it to their heart. You cut off the limb, you cut off the infection."

Claire nodded, barely getting half of what Alice was saying. She loved how the woman's lips moved when she talked. Get a grip, you retard. "They teach you that in med school?"

"Partly, yeah, and I've studied this virus with the limited equipment I came across for the last four years."

Claire nodded slowly when a thought suddenly popped into her head: "Do you think there's a cure for it?"

Alice recognized the redhead's hope, it was the same hope she had years ago when she had started researching it. "I don't have the equipment necessary to even make such a claim. I'd need time, lots of it, and countless resources. For now, this is the best way to 'cure' it."

Alice referred to the decapitation of extremities only, however, as it would be useless to someone who's been bitten in center mass. The virus would already be too close to the heart and it's not like you can safely remove a part of someone's neck.

"I'll go prep," Alice announced as she stacked her empty plate along with the rest and dashed towards the clinic. She hadn't heard Claire ask her if she needed help.

She didn't.

* * *

John, a former united states marine officer had come across Claire's growing settlement just a few months ago. He had been traveling with a family for a few years. They had set up a camp, but their numbers weren't high enough and he was the only one who was experienced enough to handle a weapon. Most of them had been defending themselves with shovels and worn down crowbars.

A horde of infected obliterated their camp and he had been the only survivor. Though, all of that was behind him now; John loved it here. These people had become his closest friends in a short while and he couldn't imagine a life other than what he had. It was like being on tour, he thought, and it truly felt like home.

"I'll take point." John walked through the dark-lit pharmacy with his MP5 trained in front of him. He moved with tactical ease around the cluttered store as he scanned every dark corner. Satisfied, he called out the 'all clear' for the rest of his team. They soon flooded the pharmacy behind him.

John had memorized the list of items the doctor needed from this place. He had a very different opinion of her than most. John was extremely suspicious of how conveniently she came across Arcadia, and how everyone just seemed to love her without a second thought. Seriously, she's all the survivors talked about. He felt like he was the only rational one, so he decided to keep a close eye on her.

John slid over the counter with ease, his boots hit the ground without a sound as he expertly controlled his drop and cautiously advanced through the shelves of prescription drugs. His eyes raked over the labels tiny lettering as he read the overly complicated words until he found familiar ones. He popped said bottles into the duffle bag, that had been slung over his shoulder, and continued down the aisle.

Next on the list was a medication that stopped hemorrhaging; Alice had given him a list of names as she wasn't quite sure which ones would be available there. Tranexamic acid, Kallistat, Aprostat, Sigmachrome, progesterone - wasn't that for women? He found a bottle of Hemostat and went to pick it up, but when he did a loud screeching noise caught him by surprise. The bottle fell out of his hand and rolled onto the floor, pills scattered everywhere. Her felt a sharp pain in his hand, as teeth sunk into it.

"Argh! What the fuck!" He fired his weapon at the undead creature that bit him and only moved his finger off the trigger when his clip was empty. "Fucking cunt!" He removed his glove and swore again as he stared at the bloody teeth marks on his dark hand.

"I heard gunfire, is everything alright?" Chris came up to the counter and could see that John had his eyes fixed down on his hand. When the man didn't respond, Chris jumped over the counter and joined him. He stopped in his tracks once he spotted the bright red marks on his hand.

Chris picked up his radio, but not before throwing out a few choice curse words, as he called Claire. His instructions were fairly simple: cut off the man's hand.

Jill had joined them, and instead of answering her inquiries, Chris shoved his radio in her chest as he unsheathed his knife. "This is gonna hurt," he said gruffly as she gripped John's arm.

He pressed his thumb on the inside of John's bicep in hopes it would stop some of the blood flow. Despite the man's insistent protests, Chris sliced off the infected hand in one quick motion.

Jill handed his radio back she quickly covered the amputated arm with her scarf, blood soaked her hands in just a few seconds. "Chris, what the fuck happened?"

"He got bit, we need to go back," Chris rushed his explanation as the pair guided the hyperventilating man back outside and to their truck.

Jill stared at him with her mouth open in shock for a moment. "You cut off his hand? Christ, are you insane?" She practically yelled as she wrapped her arm around John's midsection and helped Chris pushing their injured friend inside the Lorry.

Taking a much-deserved breath, Chris wiped the sweat that dribbled down his forehead with the back of his hand. "Alice said it would stop him from turning," he explained.

Jill chuckled humourlessly. "She better be right."

Inhuman groans caught their attention as their squad fired on a small group of undead who were slowly approaching them. "Fucking leave them, let's go!" Jill yelled at her team as she stood on the Lorry's sturdy sidebar.

She waited as her team made it into the truck's cargo before she claimed the passenger's side seat. Jill watched the zombies stumbling after them in her side mirror and wondered how such simple minded creatures could get the drop on trained soldiers. Maybe it was karma, she thought bitterly.

* * *

John was swaying in and out of consciousness all throughout the ride back to the settlement. He knew that there were people around him, but he couldn't hear anything that was spoken. There was a loud buzzing in his ear and every time he tried to focus on a face, his vision faded in and out.

Guess this is the end of the line for me.

John tried moving his injured hand and found her couldn't. In fact, he couldn't feel his fingers at all.

What the hell happened?

He tried to remember what happened after he shot the revenant, but all he remembered was Chris finding him and then nothing.

He felt himself being carried outside; the shouting around him seemed so far away and he wasn't sure if they were talking to him or not. Moments later he was immobile and the distinct absence of wind and heat told him he had been carried inside again. He attempted to find out where he was but everything was a blurry mess of shapes and colors.

He saw a face he recognized, Jessy, but couldn't find his voice and speak his name. The last thing he saw before he passed out, was the Doctor's unmistakable blue eyes.

* * *

"Get him on that stretcher," Alice directed the group that had carried John inside. As soon as he was settled, she placed a blood bag of his type onto his stomach and wasted no time in slipping the needle into his bloodstream. She tried to go around the stretcher to grab some tape from the medical tray, but a body was in the way.

"Move," she barked without looking at who it was. When the body didn't budge, she stared into the man's face and clearly enunciated: "I said move." Alice recognized him as one of the soldiers who went on the supply runs with Chris but his name escaped her.

"I'm not leaving him until I know he's alright," the man shouted back as he stood his ground. His hands were on his weapon, but it was held tightly against his chest.

Alice snarled, her jaw clenched as every ounce of patience she had was slowly being drained by this idiot. "If you don't move, he won't be. Get out of my way!"

"Who the fuck do you-" His words were cut off by Claire's stern voice.

"Jessy," she warned the agitated man. She understood his concern, but if he wanted John to have a fighting chance of surviving his amputation he really needed to let Alice work. "You have two choices: either you walk out of here on your own or I throw you out myself."

He stared into Claire's dark sunglasses for a moment until he reluctantly started towards the door, but not before he unnecessarily threatened the doctor: "He better be alright, or you'll-"

"Or you'll do nothing," Claire grabbed his jacket and practically threw him out and then closed the door behind both of them, leaving the doctor alone with John.

Alice could hear the redhead yelling at him, but she couldn't focus on what she was saying as she had bigger things to worry about; she needed to work fast. Alice first unwrapped the decapitated extremity and examined the clean cut. Good work, Chris.

Thankfully, the group had come back with morphine, that John himself found. She filled a sterilized needle with the clear liquid and injected it into his system. She let the medicine do its thing while she prepared her tools for the long job she had ahead of her. She would need to operate the muscle and cut it into a round shape, saw off the excess bone, seal off the blood vessels and sew everything back up.

Alice worked patiently into the next four hours with Claire occasionally popping in. She brought her water a few times and decided to stay there and watch Alice work silently for the rest of the time. She figured she'd need help moving him afterward. It was a really lousy excuse.

Alice hadn't minded, it was nice to have the strong presence there with her. It helped her stay focused.

When she finished taking care of his limb, Claire helped Alice move him into one of the beds. They had trouble, though, as his body was constructed entirely out of muscles. After many unpleasant minutes of grunting and swearing, they finally got him settled.

Exhausted, Alice stood next to the stretcher and quietly cleaned her tools when another unwanted wave nausea crept up on her. This time, though, it wouldn't take no for an answer. She ran towards the nearest garbage and emptied the contents of her stomach, however small, into it.

Claire rushed to her and placed a hand on the woman's back. She rubbed it in slow circles like she had done to K-mart that time she had caught a violent flu.

"I'm fine," Alice spoke between regurgitations.

Alice finished spitting the last of it and attempted to get up on shaky legs. She fell back into Claire, who helped steady her with an arm around her waist as she led her to an empty bed. "Are you alright?"

She hated how concerned Claire sounded and offered a weak explanation: "Tired I guess. It happens."

"Alice, if you-"

"I said I'm fine," Alice said a little too harshly and cringed at her own words. She instantly regretted her outburst when she noticed Claire had taken a step back from her. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't worry about it. I'll let you rest," she answered and then turned to leave.

"Claire?"

Alice's soft voice stopped her in her tracks. She turned around slowly, "Yeah?"

Alice offered the woman a weak smile; every fiber in her body wanted to be asleep. "Thanks for what you did earlier. I was seriously going to knock him out," her voice rough from the raw state her throat was in.

"Right there with ya," Claire winked at the woman before she let the clinic.

Will this feeling ever go away? Alice pondered tersely as she let herself fall back onto the bed with a bounce. Not the tingle in her lower abdomen that arose from Claire's wink, but this insistent nauseous she had every time a patient in a critical state would enter her clinic.

Fuck.


	4. Helpless Hope

**A/N:** In which I enjoy teasing you all the way Alice enjoys teasing poor Claire. I hope you'll like this update. The next chapter will be action oriented as Alice and Claire will set out for a supply run alone.

* * *

K-mart turned her attention from the heated game of pool between Claire and LJ to the command room's front door as it flung open. "Alice!" she waved her hand at the woman from her seated position on the worn-down couch.

"Who's winning?" Alice asked as she took the empty seat next to the young woman, who bounced excitedly beside her. Even if she had explained to K-mart how sugar was an evil simple-carbohydrate that did all kind of bad things to your body, Alice observed that clearly her scare tactic hadn't worked at all. Though she was happy to see K-mart had fully recovered from her GSW.

"Claire's annihilating him," she explained, though LJ's face forlorn expression was enough of an indicator.

Alice's eyes first scanned the redhead who was clearly enjoying herself and making a show of boasting about her skills, while Jill and Chris attempted to distract her to throw off her game (it hardly made a difference at all). She then fixed the man she hadn't met yet and turned to K-mart for questioning: "Who is he?" Alice nodded her head towards Claire's unfortunate opponent.

K-mart smiled widely, her hands instantly became engaged in the conversation: "That's LJ! He's the gardener, but he wasn't there when I gave you the tour."

Alice thought she had passed a physical exam to everyone in Arcadia but it seemed some had slipped passed her radar incognito. She made a mental note to talk to Claire about it later on. She moved her gaze back to the game, but it looked like a winner had already been declared. After some teasing, the group of four gathered around the couch.

LJ purposely ignored Chris' good-natured shit-talking and instead focused on the doctor; a much more pleasant sight. "I'm LJ and you must be the doc," he gallantly introduced himself as he took Alice's hand and kissed the back of it. Damn, those baby blues. No wonder the boss lady has a bad case of wandering eyes.

"And you're the gardener," Alice smiled and chuckled slightly.

LJ gave her a curt bow and confidently answered: "I grow only the best greens. If you need a hook up, little lady, LJ's your man." He finished with a playful chuckle.

"I have my own, but thanks," Alice answered with a wink and especially enjoyed the way his smile broadened.

"Damn!" He exclaimed, "that's wifey material right there." He threw a pointed look at Claire and a not-so-subtle nod towards the doctor. "Pay attention, girly." LJ hadn't expected Claire's hand to come in contact with the back of his head so swiftly, but he fully accepted the repercussions though, and didn't regret a word he said.

Oddly enough, K-mart was the only one who wasn't shocked by the doctor's admission.

Claire was starting to wonder if Alice wasn't a gift from God. Not only was she exactly what Arcadia needed, she's slowly warming up to the idea that Alice was exactly what she needed. Perhaps LJ and his big mouth were right after all.

"Alright, who's next?" Claire asked with an intimidating predatory gleam in her green eyes. She lifted her pool cue in front of her like she was handling a riffle, and pointed the tip at her brother, who quickly refused the challenge thrown his way.

Claire stuck out his tongue at him, which Chris replied in the same manner.

"Alice wants to play a game!" K-mart grabbed the woman's wrist and lifted her hand up, knowingly setting her up for a slaughter-fest.

Alice dangerously narrowed her eyes at the younger woman and whispered 'traitor'. K-mart avoided looking at her as she innocently released the doctor's arm. "I'm not that good," Alice pleaded weakly.

"It's just for fun," Claire coaxed – it didn't take a savant to know a wide grin was hidden underneath her scarf. "I'll show you," which did absolutely nothing to alleviate the tension continuously building between both of them.

Jill had pointed out their chemistry first and she whole-heartedly believed that she should deserve the 'I told you so' credit if their school girl crush ever evolves into something more physical.

Seriously, what are these two raging idiots waiting for? Even if Jill wasn't completely sold on the idea of two people being perfect for each other, these two might be able to change her stubborn mind. Oh God, am I becoming a sap? Ew.

K-mart leaned forward onto her knees, her chin rested in the palm of her hand as her hazel eyes transfixed the pair as soon as Alice was led away to the pool table by the redhead. She adored the fact that everyone very publicly calling out up their obvious attraction didn't deter them away from interacting so comfortably with each other.

K-mart watched as Alice, completely clueless, fumbled with the pool cue in her hands. Claire was by her side in an instant and attempted to teach her proper hand positioning.

After getting a handle on how to hold the pool cue, Alice bent over the table as she diligently followed Claire's verbal instructions, but her posture was rigid and she hadn't bent her knees enough. Not to mention her hand positioning was still all wrong.

Claire first placed a gloved hand on the woman's hip and lightly bumped the back of Alice's knee with hers. This gently forced her to bend down in a more comfortable position, which Claire knew to be optimal – for pool, of course.

"You have to get eye level with the table. That way you'll see the ball's trajectory much clearer," Claire explained, though she was pleasantly distracted from the way Alice's backside had made itself comfortable against her crotch.

"Am I doing this right?" Alice could have been a professional poker player the way everyone had been oblivious to her horns and pointy tail. She felt Claire's body press along hers in a deliciously and deliberately slow motion that almost made her forget her ruse. Claire took the liberty of placing both of Alice's hands properly on the pool cue.

"You want to pull back slowly so you won't lose the angle of your shot. Then you want to hit the ball quickly, but not too hard or it'll go off track." Claire hooked her hand underneath Alice's bent arm to show her the pullback motion and then quickly drove her elbow forward.

"Are they still talking about pool?" Jill whispered to Chris, who elbowed her in reply. "What's with you?" Still no reply as Chris refused to take his eyes away from Alice and practically burned a hole in the back of her skull.

"Chris, seriously? Claire's the one being all predatory and shit!" Jill burst out laughing when he simply grunted angrily, and quickly slapped her hand over her own mouth. "You're cute when you're in protective big brother mode," she husked.

The characteristic sounds of the cue hitting a ball could be heard, along with the satisfying tumbled of the ball into one of the table's leather pockets. Everyone took a collective breath, as the scene before them had stolen it away.

Once the women broke apart, K-mart resisted the urge to jump up, grab their heads and smooch their faces together.

Chris's jaw muscles clenched as he reluctantly watched his Alice blatantly tease his sister; his glare unaltered.

Jill – well, no one would be brave enough to want to imagine what the ex-cop was thinking about.

When the game started, Alice had let Claire go first. She got one ball in on the break, but deliberately missed her second shot. It's exactly what Alice had predicted, and what she was counting on.

Alice chalked her pool cue before she bent into position with ease and sunk every single ball one after the other with professional-level accuracy. Mouths hung open so wide that Alice thought she'd have to pop them back into their sockets.

Claire knew she had been bested, at her own game no less, when the third ball flawlessly fell into the corner pocket after two rebounds off the table's edge. No beginner could have made that shot – even with luck on their side. Well I'll be dammed; she chuckled out loud as she deposited her cue on the table and swallowed her pride thickly.

"The teacher has surpassed the student," LJ chuckled.

"The master taught the student," Alice corrected, which was about the exact moment everyone held their breath. They knew how Claire loved reigning terror as the queen of pool and now that Alice had beaten her, they didn't know how she'd react to that low blow.

She remained quiet, a blank look settled in her usual shinning green orbs. Tension escaladed almost to a breaking point until she burst out laughing and playfully punched Alice's shoulder. She had to get her rocks off somehow and messing around with them seemed to do the trick well enough.

Claire couldn't seem to rip her eyes away from the devilish look Alice was giving her and decided it was futile to resist. "Well played," she held out her hand to her grinning adversary, who grasped hers without missing a beat.

"I'd say the same, but I really cleaned the table back there," Alice boasted with a teasing wink.

Claire leaned back against the table; her hand pushed back the long locks of red head that had fallen in her face. She folded her arms across her chest and chuckled, still unable to wrap her head around what just happened. She regarded the woman with controlled admiration, "seriously though - teach me?"

Alice smiled, humbly this time. Shit, am I blushing? "Of course," her tongue stumbled on her words like a crush-ridden teenager.

"That's about as much unresolved sexual tension I can take in one day," Jill announce as she started towards the door, but stopped before she reached it and glanced back at Claire with a smirk.

Her mouth opened to add another crass comment, but Chris had pushed her out the door and followed her out. "What the fu-" The door slammed behind them and effectively muffled their voices.

Claire rolled her eyes and shook her head with mock-disappointment, "children."

Alice and K-mart nodded in agreement.

* * *

The sun's position in the sky cast a shadow on the left guard's tower, telling her that it should be close to 5 pm. On regular days, her shift would come to an end soon and another guard would take her place. However, Hayley had spotted a massive wave of undead a few miles out from Arcadia and received instructions from Jill, her designated superior, to wait until they were a few hours away.

Hayley has been guarding Arcadia since its early construction and has since seen this recurring phenomenon countless times. A horde of undead, attracted to the numerous sounds that comes from the settlement, move in on them in great numbers in just a few days. 'Horde' might be an understatement in this context, though, as their numbers are far closer to that of a Legion than those of a usual horde.

Jill had developed a simple but efficient strategy to turn their attention away: shut down the settlement's activities and wait it out in relative silence. If that wasn't enough to make them lose their interest then one of Chris' men, designation Foxhound, would set off flares away from the camp. The ones that strayed away from of the hordes either finish impaled by the structure's self-defence mechanisms or would have to be silently disposed by the clean-up crew.

This phenomenon generally reoccurs five times a year and usually rolls by without a hitch. Though there was one time Hayley remembered, when the supply recon team had been locked outside and were forced to camp out for a few days until Arcadia was clear of them. While all the supplies they had found on recon had to be used, there had been no causalities.

Hayley took hold the microphone radio strapped to her shoulder and held down the PTT switch with her thumb. "Seagull Alpha Three-one for Ironside 6," she called out in a heavily accented voice. Only a visitor to these deserted parts, Hayley's home was in Ireland. She had been visiting the infamous Las Vegas when the outbreak started and has been here ever since.

"This is Ironside 6. Go ahead Seagull Alpha Three-one," Jill promptly responded.

"The horde of flesh-eaters is approaching Eagle's Nest ma'am, ETA two hours." Hayley found Arcadia's word of not-so-endearment for the undead to be slightly graphic, but it worked well to create a clear distinction between the living and the undead.

Hayley understood that the people who had a hard time killing them where the ones who attributed human qualities to them. She had learned long ago that once the infection took over someone, there was nothing that could be done; it would take over them until not one ounce of humanity was left in them.

"Roger that. We'll do a crew rotation and a shut down right after."

"Roger that ma'am. Seagull Alpha Three-one over and out." Hayley had no military experience and learned to fire a weapon when one as handed to her. She quite enjoyed the way Claire's command felt like a military unit, though, she viewed everyone as family members as opposed to co-workers.

"This is Claire speaking: we will perform a complete shutdown of operations. You have two hours to close up shop and return to your living quarters until the shutdown is lifted, unless otherwise advised. Emergency procedure 'Red' is in effect. I repeat emergency procedure 'Red' is in effect," Claire commanded as she broadcasted her message to all three frequencies in Arcadia.

The abandoned slot machines and poker tables had been her home for a while when Claire found her. She was instantly mesmerised by the woman's strong balance of confidence and gentleness. She truly was an amazing leader, Hayley thought, and swore her opinion wasn't biased by her mild infatuation with the woman.

Besides, Hayley couldn't name one person who wouldn't be ecstatic to be the one keeping Claire's bed warm. She could also think of one person who certainly seemed very close in achieving such an incredible feat – and not just on the physical aspect of things.

When your post-apocalyptic job is guarding a settlement and you see bodies interacting with one another from a bird's eye view all day, there are certain things one picks up on; things that most people don't necessarily notice.

Like the way Claire easily, and almost naturally gravitated towards their new doctor – Alice, was it? It was easy to distinguish the pair in a crowd as their bodies would seek the other one out. If they started on opposite ends of a table, one would move to find the other. Now, you would think it was for conversational purposes, but Hayley new better.

She understood that attraction always started from subtle body language and quickly evolved until the mind becomes fully aware of their deliberate actions to be closer; and that's when things get interesting.

The human psych truly was an amazing science, Hayley thought. However, all this time spent scrutinizing other people's relationship left a void in her own as she hadn't had a significant other since all of this started; much like Claire in fact.

Unfortunately for her, the one she had eyes for already had eyes for a certain doctor. With a sigh, Hayley gave one last look at the approaching horde of undead and made her way down the tower to shed off her heavy equipment and take a much needed shower.

* * *

"What's up doc?" Claire asked as she entered the clinic. Mirth danced in her eyes as she spotted the doctor leaning against the long counter beneath the windowed cabinets, bottles of pills littered the area around her.

Alice chuckled, "tell me you didn't just say that." If she had a penny every time someone had said that exact same line to her, well, it wouldn't matter now anyways since monetary value was obsolete.

"I didn't," Claire shrugged with a concealed smirk.

Alice rolled her eyes, but nonetheless let a broad smile creep up on her face as she looked up from her work and instead focused on a pair of relaxed green eyes. "What can I do for you?"

"I was bored as hell," Claire shrugged as she hoped up on the stretcher, feet dangled in mid-air, which seemed out of character to Alice – but then again she had never seen the woman in full stir-crazy mode. "I thought you'd be doing something not boring."

"You're in luck," Alice greatly exaggerated her joyful tone. "I'm currently identifying and labeling unmarked medication we have," she explained as if she had revealed the next best thing since sliced bread.

"I've never wanted to not do something as much as I do not want to do that," was said with little emotion except for one: fear.

"Well, we all make our life choices," Alice sighed, "some are better than others." She sent Claire a pointed glare with pursed lips and judgmental eyes.

Claire scoffed and rolled her eyes, "nerd," she weakly attempted to hide behind a cough.

"What did you expect? I spent most of my life studying. That shit sticks with you."

"My condolences," Claire joked as she scanned the clinic to find it had changed yet again. Or, more precisely, Alice had stolen a couch and a chair that she had placed adjacent to the beds with the chair facing the loveseat.

Claire noticed that Alice's diploma proudly hanged on display on the wall behind said seating arrangement. The words 'University of California, San Francisco' were etched in beautiful calligraphy just above her full name.

"So, you're from California?" Claire asked curiously. Most people didn't dwell on their past; for some it brought on bad memories and for others it made them think of how easy and simple their life was before. The redhead was never really good at figuring out which it was, but she knew how to read body language well enough to drop the subject if need be.

Alice was different from that, Claire noticed. She most likely had a nice life before the outbreak, but she also didn't seem to mind their current situation at all. She pegged her to be one of those highly adaptable individuals, which made sense considering her line of work.

Alice finished scribbling down 'Ativan – for anxiety' in a barely readable cursive handwriting. "Yep, I specialized as a trauma surgeon and then completed my residency at San Francisco General Hospital," she placed the now marked bottles back into the appropriate shelves.

"That's impressive," Claire acknowledged as she watched Alice taking calculated steps towards her and diligently kept an eye on her as she inched closer.

"Not as impressive as how I make uncooperative patients comply," Alice's voice lowered as her mischievous gaze was aptly directed to Claire.

Her breath hitched slightly when Alice was mere inches away from her, which caused her heart rate to follow suit. Claire willed her voice to remain even as she spoke: "and how do you do that?" A question asked with both wonder and excitement.

Alice placed both of her hands down on the stretcher on either side of Claire's hips. She raised an eyebrow at the woman and watched her pupils dilate considerably. She was fully aware her tactics were evil, but desperate times called for desperate measures after all. "Corner them," she whispered finally, smirk etched perfectly onto her lips.

Claire sighed, but it had no effect in stopping the marathon her heart appeared to be running. "I really don't think this is necessary. I'm fine, really." Somehow, she knew that explanation hadn't come close to satisfying the doctor.

Alice rose as skeptical eyebrow at her, "you asked me to stay so that I could help everyone here. Do you think I would truly be helping this settlement if I wasn't properly taking care of their leader?" By Claire's visibly deflated shoulders, Alice had definitely won this battle of the wills.

The redhead sighed, she hated how Alice's proximity both calmed and agitated her. "Do you have a diploma in sweet-talking too?"

Alice smiled as she moved away from the stretcher and equipped herself with a pen and a paper. "Actually, I was just waiting on another frame to hang it up," she joked while she attached a blank paper on her clipboard. "Date of birth?"

"July 2nd 1986," she replied automatically, focused on the way Alice was writing. It's not that Claire disliked getting exanimated in fear that the doctor would find something serious, it was mostly because she hated being touched and generally cared for.

"Allergies?"

She took care of herself all those years, what more could one person do that she couldn't? Even if her mind was dead set on this way of thinking, Alice had slinked her way past all her defences without having to use excessive force. It's the only reason she was letting her do this in the first place. Claire could have left at any moment, but she chose not to.

"Lactose intolerance," was her mildly embarrassed answer.

"Blood type?"

"O negative."

Alice lifted up her head to smile at the woman. "A rare one indeed," she'd never mention Claire's blush though. Her eyes went back to her paper immediately, "when was your last medical exam?"

"I can't remember." That would be: never. Though Claire remembered going to the doctor's office once she hit puberty in her early teens. After earning her adult status, she hadn't bothered going through the laborious process of getting a family doctor.

"Do you have any illnesses that you know of?"

Claire smirked, eyes trained on a blonde head. "I have one in front of me."

"Patient exhibits heightened aggressiveness caused by her desire to consume chocolate but can't," Alice pretended to write down what she had said and dutifully ignored Claire's raised middle finger, for professionalism's sake, and then stuck out her tongue at her.

Alice checked Claire's eye movements with a pen and then her pupil's responsiveness light changes in her pupils using her hand to cover and uncover them. She then took Claire's blood pressure with a battery operator monitor.

Once Alice deemed everything to be in order, she quickly wrote down a few words on Claire's personal file – though Claire thought it looked more like Alice had attempted to form letters and abandoned mid stroke. They really weren't kidding about doctor's shitty handwriting.

"We're almost done," Alice said as she turned her attention to the woman once more. "I don't have a stethoscope. Do you mind if I place my ear against your chest?"

"That's the closest thing to a come-on I've heard in months," Claire's mouth seemed to have worked faster than her brain as it took her a second to realize those words had just come out of her mouth. She wanted to apologize but Alice's carefree laughter and wiggling eyebrows shut her up instantly.

She remained silent while Alice listened to her heartbeat, mostly because she was so damn concentrated on trying to breathe normally to slow that sucker down. Seriously, it was embarrassing as fuck.

Alice was going to comment on her heart's quickened pace until she heard an abnormal rhythm. "Were you aware you have an irregular heartbeat?" Alice pulled back completely and wrote down more notes.

Claire's disappointment over the loss of contact went right over Alice's head, as worry lines appeared on her forehead. Alice's medically trained brain no doubt searched for every possible cardiovascular illness.

"The doctor I saw when I was younger had talked about it, but they said it wasn't dangerous."

"Did you ever have chest pains, shortness of breath, dizziness or fainting while doing physical activity?"

"No, never," Claire answered quickly.

Alice nodded and visibly relaxed as she played with the pencil between her slender fingers. "Then it's probably just cardiac arrhythmia, nothing to worry about. If you happen to have any of those symptoms I mentioned you need to come see me immediately."

"Roger that," Claire sent Alice a two finger salute. She went to hop down from the stretcher but hands on her hips prevented her from doing so. She stared into blue eyes, silently questioning Alice.

"Not so fast trooper, we still have something to look at."

Claire stayed still until a hand gently grasped the bottom of her scarf in an attempt to remove it. Only then did her hand fly upwards and gripped Alice's wrist to stop her movements. She had been so used to concealing her disfigured self behind the simple accessory that it had almost became a part of her; an intimate part she didn't like people touching.

A silent battle of the wills commenced between both women and neither backed down. After a few tense moments, Claire finally released her grip on Alice's hand and acquiesced to the doctor's demand; it was far more meaningful than just a simple permission.

Truthfully, Claire was tired of hiding and for some insane reason she found strength in the woman in front of her, who was still no more than just a pleasant stranger. No matter how much bourbon she guzzled down it wouldn't improve her scars appearance, and if Alice could really help here then what did she have to lose?

Claire felt her scarf fall down her nose and brush against her lips as Alice pulled it down slowly. She was fully prepared to deflect the doctor's disgusted face, but it never came; blue eyes remained soft and professional. Claire couldn't understand how Alice could stomach it, as she herself couldn't bare starring at it for too long.

"How long ago did this happen?" Alice asked softly, as her she expertly assessed the wound. It didn't take her long to see what the problem was and why it hasn't been healing.

"Four years now."

Alice took the liberty to let he eyes freely roam over Claire's previously concealed features. She found herself transfixed by her lips and strong jawline; she truly was a gorgeous woman and Alice hoped she could give her back that undeniable confidence. "What happened?"

Claire shook her head sharply and gazed down at her hands, which nervously picked at her clothes. "Can you or can you not make it better?"

"That all depends on you. I'll explain what the problem is and what I'll need to do as well as what you'll need to do. If you agree then we'll proceed with the treatment."

"I'm all ears," Claire smiled – there was something about Alice's professionalism that made her comfortable.

Alice nodded and returned Claire's infectious smile, pleasantly surprised about the trust that had quickly developed between them. "Your wound isn't healing because it wasn't taken care of properly. It wasn't sown which makes it hard for such a deep cut to heal without being closed – you're really lucky it's not infected," Alice took a breath and continued her explanation: "The lack of oxygen going to the wound prevents it from healing properly, but dehydration is probably the biggest culprit. Not only did it create a layer of dead skin over that prevents your skin tissue from healing, it cracked it open wider." Her eyes locked with vulnerable green ones, "I'm not going to lie to you Claire, closing an old wound like this is going to be extremely painful."

Claire nodded thoughtfully as she weighed her options. She didn't know how long she could keep dodging the need to do something about her open wound before her luck runs out and she does get an infection. There was only one solution to her problem and it was standing right in front of her. "Will it be worth it?"

"I would say so, yes. You have my word," Alice promised. She had a plan in mind already: first she would have to hydrate and moisten the wound and then she would use adhesive bandage to bring both side of the serrated skin closer together before finally stitching it closed.

Alice is aware that it will be an extremely uncomfortable and painful process but ultimately she's positive Claire will be extremely pleased with the end results if she chooses to go through with it.

"Okay," Claire spoke softly after a long moment of silence. "I'm in, doc."

"Good, just let me know whenever you're ready." Alice wanted to start as soon as possible, but she isn't convinced Claire would feel the same way. She understood though, with the horde just outside their walls, Claire would need to be free to intervene immediately if a problem should arise.

"My secretary will let you know when I'm available for an appointment," Alice joked as she snapped her fingers and Kratos' footsteps could be heard on the wooden floors. He stopped in front of Alice and sat down; big brown eyes that stared up at her with unmasked excitement. "Go on, boy, don't make her wait."

Kratos didn't need to be told twice as he took a running start at Claire, who used Alice as a human shield then dashed around the stretcher. They both stopped moving and engaged in a staring contest that ended once Claire feinted by jerking her whole body forward but remained in place.

Kratos jumped from the ruse, and opened his mouth to bark but stopped himself a she spotted Alice stern look from the corner of his eye. So he compromised and made a sound that sounded something like a cross between a sigh and a sneeze, which caused laughter to erupt from both women.

Claire got down on all fours and charged at Kratos, who did the same. They repeated this a couple of time until Claire was ultimately overpowered and ended up under him, valiantly fighting the large dog's wet kisses.

Alice, who felt sorry for the amount of drool on Claire's clothes, charged in and challenged Kratos to one on one fight. She wasn't able to win her friend's dignity back, but at least she gave her time to regroup and come up with a plan that ultimately snagged them a victory. They didn't taste it for very long, however, as Kratos' infinite energy reserve caused Alice to tap out first and Claire second.

Positively drained of energy, both women forfeited and disengaged from the battle. Alice decided the search for a suitable hydrating cream for Claire while the redhead opted to 'rest her eyes' on one of the empty beds.

With Alice's back turned to them, Kratos took this opportunity to jump up onto the bed and made himself comfortable on top of Claire, who welcomed him with open arms.

When she did turn around, the sight of Kratos' head tucked under Claire's chin, both of her arms wrapped around him as they slept soundly, was enough to make her heart melt on the spot.

Alice decided she didn't mind Kratos being on furniture – or using Claire as furniture for that matter.


	5. The Battle Is My Way

**A/N: Thank you all for your kind comments, it's always a pleasure reading through them.** **Also, the plot thickens.**

* * *

Alice had been in Arcadia for a little over a month now and not once did the thought of leaving enter her mind for even a split second. She and Claire had been spending a considerable amount of time together, partly because of the redhead's treatments, and found common interests such as a shared love for heavy metal and LJ's greens.

There was even an incident, while under the influence of LJ's products, involving loud music and an eating contest that neither are willing to speak of ever again. They had been discovered by K-mart and, unfortunately for them, she now had something to blackmail them with.

Horrifying thoughts aside, Alice was amongst the group who had been called in the command station to plan out the next supply and rescue run. Chris' men had discovered that a dozen individuals were holding up in a hotel about 15 klicks north of them. The doctor figured Claire wanted her here for possible medical interventions on the new arrivals, should they decide to come here.

They were huddled around a wooden table which had a very detailed map of Phoenix pinned onto its surface. The settlement was designated by a blue flag (a somewhat triangular piece of paper glued onto a toothpick). Places they had already picked clean, or knew to be empty, had black flags on their location. Green ones were places they wanted to scavenge, while red were areas heavily occupied by the undead. It gave Alice a headache just looking at it, so she decided to leave the navigating to the experts and followed what they were saying instead.

Claire leaned over the table and pointed to a green flag on the north-east portion of the map, "our destination is the Holiday Inn in North Scottsdale. It's a short trip, but we're making it a bit longer by taking the detour on AZ-101 instead of taking AZ-51," she explained while her finger traced said route.

Chris frowned, wondering why Claire would plan such a trip. Sure, AZ-51 is busier and roaming with undead, but it's nothing their supply trucks can't easily get out of the way. So why the switch and bait to waste fuel for a longer route?

Claire continued: "There's a clinic near. Alice, if you need anything we'll stop there."

Alice nodded; finally something she could contribute to this meeting. "We're out of anti-hemorrhaging medication and basic supplies wouldn't hurt."

Chris watched their interaction with peaked interest; it looked as though their professional tones were used to cover an underlying body language that spoke a different tale. Over the past month Chris had seen his sister and the doctor together more often than he saw them on their own.

He was grateful that Alice treated Claire's now almost fully healed scar, and it especially was nice seeing her without that stupid scarf, but he knows how quickly attached she gets to people. Especially the ones who have hypnotizing blue eyes and gorgeous smiles.

If Alice were to leave, which he doesn't fully trust she won't, then he would be the one picking up the pieces as he's done so many times in the past. He truly didn't want to know what the aftermath would look like this time. Even though it might just be a case of protective brother paranoia, Chris decided to keep his guard up around her.

Lost in his own speculations, he almost didn't catch what Claire had said: "and then we'll make a pit stop here at Fletcher's tire and auto services that's also located on 101. I need some stuff for the Lorrys," she further explained.

Why was she willing to waste so much time by sending both fireteams in the same buildings? "Why not have Alpha team head to the clinic while Bravo scout the auto shop? We can meet up at the motel after." Like we usually do, he kept to himself.

"I'm going alone with Alice," Claire wanted to seem stern about her decision but the frown turned glare on her brother's face told her it wasn't going to be an easy task.

He almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity, "you're joking, right?" Chris wouldn't make that trip alone with Jill or his sister, but he guessed if he really had to then he would definitely take the longer and safer route.

"I don't want a fire team bursting in there and scaring the shit out of them. If they've been holding up there for a long time they're bound to be hungry and scared."

It didn't matter - fear went away with time, but dying sure as fuck didn't. God, what is she thinking? "So Jill and I can go at the motel alone while our teams scavenge," Chris challenged with something that seemed far more logical to him.

"Just yesterday you were on my ass about leaving Arcadia, and now that I'm telling you I'm planning to go out you're going to change your mind?" Claire knew it wasn't about that, but she also knew Chris was ticked off because of who she chose to go with her.

"Because you're going alone Claire ," he retaliated rapidly.

"I'm not going to be alone Chris," she threw back at him just as quickly.

Chris stepped closer to her and pointed an agitated finger at her, "you need riflemen to have your back," and then pointed at Alice (being the subject of this debate didn't seem to anger her at all), "not a doctor with knifes!"

Claire clenched her jaw and took a moment to breathe before she continued, not trusting what would come out of her mouth if she hadn't. "What I need is for us to do this quietly. If we roll up in the Lorry's we're bound to attract a horde towards the motel. I'm not going to waste time and resources just to put them in more danger than they already are - I won't risk their lives."

"No, but you'll risk yours right?" He didn't need a verbal answer, he saw the one written clearly in her green eyes.

"Alice will be there," Claire enunciated sternly. Her brother knew as well as she did that traveling in pairs was far safer than with a larger group. Large numbers worked for them because they had weapons and organization on their side, but recon like this needed to be done with a velvet glove and not an iron gauntlet.

Chris let out a humourless chuckle before he walked out of the command station without saying another word. It was clear that his sister wasn't going to listen to reason and he wouldn't stay there and pretend this suicide mission was a good idea.

Jill started towards the door, but a firm arm across her chest stopped her from doing so. She turned to Claire to give her a questioning look, then turned to Alice who she saw had gone after him instead. Chuckling, Jill relaxed and took a step back once she understood the woman's clever tactic. "You really think that's wise?"

Claire shrugged, she had seen the look Alice threw her way moments ago and just went with it; the woman was calm incarnate. "They obviously need to sort some things out. Let them do it one on one."

* * *

The sun blared on Alice's back as she stared into familiar green orbs - though this particular pair were slightly more hostile than what she was used to seeing. "You don't trust me, I get it, I just got here. But your sister - Claire," she corrected, "she knows what she's doing."

"Since you got here, I'm not so sure anymore," Chris accused and took a step forward threateningly. He didn't understand exactly what this woman wanted with her sister, or how she got Claire to trust her so easily, but he sure wasn't wearing rose-colored glasses.

"Do you really think I had any say in any of this? I didn't even know I was going with her until she told all of us." Alice recognized the intimidating technique, but she wasn't going to back down. Not here and not ever.

Chris narrowed his eyes, his tone accusing: "you didn't seem surprised."

"I trust her judgment," and she was beginning to think she was the only one who understood where Claire was coming from. Alice had been traveling alone out there for a while and the reason she kept herself alive was because it was much easier to hide one person than a whole group of noisy, unpredictable people.

"So do I, which is why I don't understand why she thinks a doctor, who's never shot a firearm before, can protect her better than I can!" He wasn't one to question his sister's command, but the fact that Claire would chose a stranger over him for such a risky recon mission upset him. Alice's smile made him wonder if she had already seen right through his anger, however.

"I'm not here to sweet-talk you on my side, or to force you into agreeing with this. If you can't trust me, then don't, but don't let that get in the way of what Claire has built here over the last four years. You can trust her ."

He really hated when people he disagreed with took the high road, it made it so much harder to be irrationally angry at them. "If anything happens to her because you couldn't do anything about it..."

"I wouldn't let that happen," Alice replied confidently, "and even if I did, I'd hate myself more than you could ever hate me so you can keep your threats to yourself." Although a smile remained on her face, Chris knew his words had gotten to her.

He scoffed, "just make sure she comes back safe." Chris walked passed her and retreated to his personal living quarters. Claire's safety was his number one priority and he would never let anything or anyone compromise that, no matter how damn hypnotizing their blue eyes were.

* * *

"Why take the risk?" Jill wasn't one to question Claire's decisions, she was a brilliant leader and a close friend, but she had a bad feeling about this starsky and hutch plan of action.

"If we do this clean and quiet we have more chance of saving these people than if we go in guns blazing. You know I'm right, Jill." It almost sounded like a plea, but Claire had never put anyone in unnecessary danger and she needed Jill to understand that it wouldn't change anytime soon.

She had known Claire for a very long time before the outbreak; Jill was never one of those social types, sure she had charisma and a particular kind of charm, but she preferred to stay on her own most of the time. A habit of hers that changed once she met the Redfield siblings in military boot camp.

Chris was the only one that remained in that particular career path, while she and Claire received an honorable discharge after two years of service. Jill decided to join the police force, drawn to a more local approach. She found it was more important to her to keep her city safe as opposed to some stranger's land.

Once Claire started working at a local mechanic shop, Jill would spend her lunches with the redhead more often than not - unless she had an urgent call. She would even bring Claire free donuts. After ten years of friendship, Jill had only seen Claire in meager causal relationships that always seemed to leave her friend unsatisfied.

Sure, Claire and Alice were playing a game of cat and mouse that some would peg as distracting, but Jill thought it was nice seeing her friend high off the thrill of the chase after many, many years of down time. She honestly wondered how Claire had survived that much time without some well deserved coitus. Self-sufficiency is one thing, but we're all human and we all crave a warm body next to ours every now and then.

Jill knew Claire, and she knew she'd never let something like this get in the way of what she accomplished over the past four years. She could vouch that bringing Alice out there had its tactical advantage granted she had spent more time than any of them out there, but Jill would be naive to believe there wasn't a more personal reason for Claire's choice.

She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, then turned her soft gaze onto green eyes. Jill regarded her friend with a mix of understanding and worry: happy to see Claire look alive and radiant, yet worried that Alice wouldn't turn how to be who Claire thinks she is. "I know you're right most of the time, but I'm just not sure taking Alice is the best option you have."

"Why does everyone keep undermining her ability outside of these walls? She survived alone for four years." And that's the main reason why Claire had chosen her for this particular venture. In truth, she was going to do this recon one her own at first but thought Alice's experience living on the outside was worth far more than any fireteam.

"If you haven't noticed sweetheart, you've been keeping her on this pedestal your brother and I can't even see it's so far up." Jill wasn't angry, or jealous, but she understood that trusting someone too much had its many repercussions on everyone around them.

People in the settlement were already talking, and Jill hated that one stranger made the survivors undermine Claire's leadership with mere speculations and rumours. It seemed when faced with the end of the world, people still kept their inconvenient thirst for gossip.

Even if Jill was right, Claire has seen the ex-officer almost get bitten to save her brother from sure death. Was the situation between herself and Alice so different from theirs? Perhaps they didn't have quite as much of the spotlight that Claire does, but isn't strong bonds what has kept them alive all those years? "Alice proved herself enough, and I trust her."

"I'm not telling you not to trust her, I know you'll be fine out there," saying so didn't mute the odd feeling she had about this whole thing though. "We want you safe, that's all."

Claire smiled - she was still getting used to not having fabric cover that part of her body. "I know, and we'll check in with you guys every hour like we also do," she reassured.

"Whatever you have to do, I'm behind you." Jill knew that sometimes being a good friend meant diving headfirst in their ridiculous and suicidal plans - a saying usually not taken quite so literally. Still she wondered if she could get away with having someone follow them from a distance. Hayley maybe? She's a good shot with her rifle, almost as good as Claire, and she wouldn't have to be that close to them to be effective.

"Think you can convince knucklehead out there?" Claire nodded her head towards the closed door. If her brother's distrust towards Alice could be remedied with this successful mission, then it would be well worth it.

"I don't know, he's like a lot like you," Jill smirked, "pig-headed as fuck."

Claire shrugged innocently, "It's a Redfield flaw."

Jill shook her head and rolled her eyes, "no kidding."

The shared a laugh and a knuckle punch; Claire felt relieved that she was able to alleviate the tension with one of her co-leaders and wondered how Alice was doing with her brother. Somehow, she guessed the doctor was doing just fine.

The lack of screaming was also a good indicator.

* * *

Alice stared out of the Jeep's passenger side window and thought how she hadn't been in a moving vehicle since the outbreak hit them. It was ridiculous how she had missed doing something that, five years ago, would have been commonplace. Or perhaps she enjoyed it because of the quiet and comfortable affinity that was constantly growing between her and Claire.

Alice turned uncomfortably, in the tactical vest Claire forced her to wear, and fixed the woman who had a casual hand throw on the steering wheel, the other placed in the same relaxed manner on the shifter knob. A cap had been fixed backwards onto her head to keep her hair away from her eyes while a a pair of aviators covered them entirely. The previously large scar started to regain Claire's natural skin color as it healed further every day.

The first few days after the surgery left Claire swollen and in a constant state of pain (read: anger), but under Alice's care the worst of the healing had gone by quickly and flawlessly. Claire dutifully made it to the clinic every morning, just before breakfast, when the sun had yet to enter through the windows of the building. Alice suspected she had to have a working clock to maintain that level of punctuality for over a month.

The physician was pleasantly shocked when she had seen Claire come to dinner without her scarf a week ago; she hadn't made a big deal out of it, and neither did anyone else who noticed their leader's broad smile. She had suspected the woman to feel more self-conscious about the lack of accessory, but Claire had quickly adapted to throwing bare and teasing grins at her friends.

Alice was especially grateful of the way Claire bit her bottom lip when engaged in a conversation about things she loved. Such as: her favorite foods and complicated mechanical modifications she had made on the Jeep Wrangler they were currently riding in.

The only part Claire hadn't tinkered with on that vehicle was the soft top, everything else had been built for making the usual gas guzzler light and speedy. The sports clutch made quick escapes quicker, it's thinner tires cut through sand like it wasn't even there. The open differential and disconnected sway bars granted this beast the ability to climb over dunes and rocks like it was born to do so - which it was.

Even if Alice understood exactly ten percent of those words, mostly the prepositions, she'll initiate conversations about cars and motorcycles just to see brilliant green eyes light up like a kid seeing their presents under the tree come christmas morning.

Alice jumped slightly when the CB radio inside the Jeep crackled to life with Jill's voice filtering through clearly: "Ironside 6 for Sunray 6 and Starlight 4."

Alice didn't know what all those military callsigns meant until Claire had explained them to her. Apparently, 'starlight' was used for the designated medic in a platoon, battalion or company - though she was still confused about how the numbers were assigned. She thought probably had gotten distracted by the way Claire's lips moved to form certain words - and her smirk. God, that smirk.

Claire reached forward to grasp the microphone with the hand that was previously on the shifter knob, "this is Sunray 6, go ahead."

"What's your position?" Jill routinely asked.

"We just got onto 101, our first destination is about 7 klicks away. We'll check in when we get there."

"Roger that. Have a pleasant drive ladies," Jill drawled out, "over and out."

Claire clipped the microphone back into its place on the dash, and leaned back comfortable in her seat.

There was that smirk again: shy but confident, reserved yet indecent. Alice wondered if the Jeep had heated seats but thought it must have been her own body heat since they really weren't in the right corner of the world to be using them. That awkward moment when a physician can't recognize her own state of arousal.

There was also a tired weariness present on Claire's features, Alice observed, created from what others expected of her as a leader and what she expected of herself. The latter was most likely the biggest culprit. The disagreement with her brother hadn't helped either as Chris' love for his sister was noble, but certainly overbearing at times.

A familiar guitar riff pleasantly distracted her away from her musings. Alice turned to Claire, who sported a matching grin. One thing that Alice learned about the mechanic over the past month was that she too was an avid lover of metal music and she had dutifully introduced Claire to her favorite group: Demon Hunter.

Alice had preciously kept the CD's intact, guessing correctly that they'd one day come in handy. Which was especially true once Claire started working her fingers like she was playing the lead guitar, using her knees to turn the steering wheel if need be. Clearly playing air guitar was more important than driving a vehicle on a completely deserted road.

Alice focused on the backup rifts on her own invisible guitar as if she knew exactly where her fingers should be on a fretboard.

Their headbanging to the savage yet melodic drum beat was in tune, much like their screaming to the lyrics they knew word for word: "And the battle is my way, I will go this path alone!"

"I will take unto my prey, this I know!" They belted out the lyrics with energy until the solo came on. Claire's hand drummed on the steering wheel while Alice continued to headbang beside her.

Feeling a bit dizzy from their over-enthused signing, both women slowly came down from their high on the slow instrumental of the song that followed. They shared affectionate smiles, each women awestruck by how gorgeous the other one looked with brilliant eyes and wide grins.

"How have I not heard of this band before?" Claire asked as she readjusted the cap on her head and reluctantly took her gaze off of the doctor.

"Don't ask me how you lived a sheltered life, you should know," Alice teased with a smirk.

"Very funny," Claire playfully narrowed her eyes at her, and then realized Alice couldn't see them, so she stuck out her tongue at the chuckling doctor instead.

"All it took was the end of the world for you to discover it," Alice remarked.

"Yeah, and you."

Alice didn't know exactly if Claire meant what she thought she did. Heck, Claire was herself was confused by her own words. They quietly listened to the rest of the album for the remainder of the trip while they both attempted to answer their own burning questions.

Kratos lifted his head from the backseat and looked between both women, ears perked up, as he sensed something had shifted in their demeanour.

"This is the place, right?" Alice asked when large, worn down and tacky letters spelling: 'Fletcher's tire and auto-service' came into view on her side of the road.

Claire only nodded her answer as she shifted into second gear. Her sharp eyes scanned the area for any movement. "Let's do a quick perimeter check," she glanced at the woman beside her as she brought the Jeep to a full stop just outside of the front door.

"Kratos and I will go around back," Alice suggested as she peered into the store's window front - though wood planks and blood stains on the glass concealed what could be hidden inside.

Claire nodded again as she pulled out her Beretta and quickly checked her mag to make sure it was full. "There should be a back door near the north end of the building. I'll meet you there from the inside."

"Sounds like a plan," Alice confirmed and they bumped knuckles to make it official before they exited the vehicle.

Alice grinned as her boots hit the ground, excited to be roaming on the outside once more. Kratos was too, if the way he jumped out of the stationary vehicle was any indication of his enthusiasm. Though she certainly hadn't missed scavenging food on an empty stomach and having to riffle through the dirtiest places just to stay alive one more day; Arcadia provided her with a sense of security she wasn't about to let go of soon.

Alice unsheathed one of her blades, and twirled it a few times out of habit. She looked down at Kratos and asked: "Wanna take point?" To which he replied by stepping in behind her. She chuckled and shook her head, "pussy."

Kratos growled lightly at his master's comment, but nonetheless remained behind her.

* * *

Claire entered through the unlocked door and slowly made her way inside with her weapon trained in front of her, index on the trigger. She scanned the area, but it looked like most buildings they visited: assorted blood splatters, items scattered everywhere left by undoubtedly panicked occupants.

Claire spotted a rack of tires: the rims were rusted through and through but she thought the tire itself could be salvaged. Display shelves which previously held car batteries, from the looks of it, had fallen and was being held at an angle by the other one behind it. The shelves further back seemed empty, a couple items remained but there wasn't anything of much use.

Claire moved towards the fallen batteries display and bent down to see if any had been forgotten under the wreckage. Curse words spilled out of her mouth when she found none. Not wanting to dwell too much on it, Claire continued down the only aisle that wasn't completely blocked.

Once she rounded the corner of the last aisle, a decaying body surprised her as it lurched forward in an uncoordinated mess of movements and nasty gurgling noises. Claire's eyes widened and her hands automatically went for its shoulders to force it away from her neck, her handgun caught between her hand and the undead's shoulder.

Claire pressed her knee into its stomach to keep the gnawing undead further at bay, but it overpowered her little by little every second she wasted keeping it at arm's length. With a loud groan, she used every ounce of her conditioned strength against the undead's inhuman persistence, and maneuvered her weapon until she was able to line up a decent shot and send a bullet into its brain.

The weight of the now limp body almost dragged her down on the floor, but she let it go just in time and caught her footing. With a wildly beating heart and a heaving chest, She stayed still for a moment and listened for any movement to make sure her scuffle hadn't attracted any hidden surprises. Met with nothing but silence Claire kicked the lifeless body out of frustration, "fucking scared the shit out of me, asshole!"

Claire let her heartbeat fall back down to a normal rhythm as she removed the coagulated blood from her face and wiped the lenses of her sunglasses before she set them on top of her cap.

She then made her way to the service counter and gracefully slid over it one one quick movement. She bent down on one knee and opened the flashlight that was strapped to her bullet proof vest.

Gloved hands rummaged through papers and empty boxes, adding to the mess, until she came upon a box filled with useful items. There was a battery, which seemed in good shape, a bunch of LED lights and a few other items she could scavenge for electrical parts.

Claire thought Alice must have made it inside by then, so she moved on to the back of the store where she came upon two large, black double doors that led to the store's storage area. Claire tried to peek through the high windows, but couldn't make out anything in the darkened area.

Quietly, she pushed the door opened slightly and peeked to her left then to her right methodically. Judging that it seemed deserted enough, Claire moved into the storage area fully. Once her flashlight pointed forward, however, she was met with an unfamiliar grinning face.

"Come here for an oil change?" A not-so friendly female voice asked.

"Just looking for parts," Claire explained as she slowly lowered her weapon to show her she was friendly - though she kept in unholstered for obvious 'I really don't trust that look on your face' reasons.

She noticed a few sleeping mats had been rolled out on the floor with a few personal items scattered around them. "You live here?"

The woman shrugged, clearly lying, "just passing through."

"So am I," Claire said carefully as she examined every movement the woman made. Her body language was far too guarded for someone who attempted to seem friendly. Though she didn't particularly want to end up in a scuffle with the tall and muscular body in front of her - Claire truly hated how hostile people living on the outside were.

Which is the reason why she wasn't surprised when a body pressed against her back and a cold weapon against her temple. "Unfortunately for you," the second stranger said in a deep voice.

She didn't struggle against her attacker, knowing that in her current position it would be futile to resist. His hold on Claire was far too tight for her to do anything without getting a bullet to the head.

"Drop your weapon."

Reluctantly, Claire let her Beretta drop to the floor and kicked it away from her as commanded. The man that was holding her did the same with the second one she had holstered.

"Where's my friend?" Claire asked with a snarl, which she regretted the second a twisted smile appeared on the athlete-sized woman's face. Fuck me.

"Oh you have a friend? Interesting, should I got look for her?" The man keeping her hostage asked while two other armed individuals entered the room and pointed their weapon towards their captive.

"No need, she'll come to us." The woman explained to him and Claire hated that she was right.

"As you wish."

The group seemed organized, much like her fireteams and the raiders, though Claire didn't recognize their barbaric clothing. It wasn't enough that the living were killing each other, they had to regress to being cavemen too. Fuck these people.

Her radio broke the tense silence around them, much to her dismay, as Alice's voice came through the CB loud and clear: "Claire, are you there? I'm at the cargo bays, the back door is locked. Think you can let me in from here?"

The woman in charge, or so Claire thought, nodded at one of the men to head towards the cargo doors.

Fuck everything.

* * *

Jill was at the shooting range as she regularly taught some of the inexperienced survivors how to properly shoot a weapon with Chris who taught them basic hand-to-hand fighting techniques. Some of them wanted to be part of the fireteams once they were ready, others just wanted basic knowledge in case of emergency. This was open to anyone and not an enforced rule by any means. Jill had organized these training classes forward to give the survivors more control over their lives in an out of control world.

"Keep your shoulders straight," Jill passed behind a small woman and used both of her hands to bring her shoulders backwards, "your core tight," she then pressed one hand in the middle of her back to activate her core and effectively bring her whole back straight. "Take a deep breath, aim and shoot," she expertly explained to the group of newcomers.

They seemed scared to hold the gun tightly in their hands which made it easier for the recoil to seriously mess up their aim. No one had hit a target yet, except for the woman who Jill had just corrected. She hit the mark, but barely. At least it was an improvement.

Jill glanced at Chris, from behind her sunglasses, who was teaching the second group some how to put down an attacker that came at them from behind.

She smirked at Chris, covered in sweat and sand much like everyone in his group. The grin he sent her way made him look far more relaxed than how she knew he truly felt.

Jill checked her watch and moved away from the shooting range to find a quiet and shaded spot to call Claire and Alice as an hour passed since her last check-in. Leaning her back against a wooden wall, she removed her cap and pressed the PTT button of her handheld radio: "Ironside 6 to Sunray 6, give me your position."

She waited a few minutes, but received no response. Frowning, Jill attempted to contact them again, "starlight 4, do you copy?" Still nothing. Cursing out loud, Jill waved her hand at Chris from her position under the makeshift canopy.

"They're not answering," she told the approaching man once he was in earshot. Jill thought he must have noticed the worry in her eyes as he looked about a second away from exploding in rage.

"I fucking knew it. You should have let me send that fireteam after them!"

"Will you relax? We don't know what's happening. They might not have their radios on, you know how the flesh-eaters are with loud noises," Jill reasoned, though she wasn't sure whether she was trying to quiet his suspicions or her own. "We should wait a bit, try them again in a few minutes."

"You do that, I'm not taking any chances." He replied sternly and turned to walk away.

"Wait, Chris, we need a plan. An escape route if-"

Chris cut her off sharply, "plans went out the window the moment we lost contact with them. I am not going to leave her hanging for technicalities."

Jill sighed, the man did have a point, she just didn't want to put anyone in danger for something that could very well be a false alert. Though her feeling from earlier amplified and she hoped to God she was wrong. "I'm coming with."

You better not be dead, red, I'll fucking kick your ass.

* * *

When Claire came back from her assisted slumber she opened her eyes and was met with complete darkness. When she tried to move, Claire noticed her hands had been tied behind her back and there was a warm body behind her in the same predicament.

"Alice...Alice?" When she had no answer Claire shook her bound hands roughly, which also moved the body behind her as their hands had been tied together. The clank of the metal against the concrete ground coupled with the harsh jerks was enough to rouse the person, who she hoped was Alice, from their unconscious state.

"Mm-ph-what?"

Claire was glad to hear the familiar voice, even if it was through incoherent mumbles. "Alice, wake the fuck up!" She practically yelled and felt the woman jump in surprise against her back.

"What happened?" Alice spoke hoarsely, disoriented and sporting a massive headache.

"You tried to save me and we both got knocked the hell out," Claire gave Alice a very abridged version of their most recent misadventure.

"Right," Alice flexed her fingers, which lightly brushed against Claire's damp palms. Alice briskly closed her hands at the unexpected contact. "I'm beginning to think that being a damsel in distress is really a syndrome," she remarked and dissuaded some of the tension between them.

Claire rolled her eyes in the dark room, but smiled nonetheless. "Really not the best time to be bringing up my shitty luck."

Alice's ears picked up what sounded like shuffling and inaudible growls that resembled the sound of hungry stomachs. "What's that noise?" she asked warily, though, she wasn't sure she really wanted an answer.

"Flesh-eaters," Claire correctly observed with uncharacteristic fear imprinted in her voice

Alice further noticed the sound of metal being forced in odd angles. "They're being held back by something, probably a gate or something," she guessed blindly.

Claire relaxed slightly, but not enough to stay she was completely comfortably staying in this dark room much longer. "Alice," Claire sighed as she readjusted herself in a more upright position and leaned against the warm body behind her. She took full accountability for the situation they were in - even if they didn't know exactly the extent of the dangers awaiting them. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have brought you with me."

"Don't do that. I don't want to hear any of it," Alice relaxed her hands once more and sought out Claire's hands this time. Instead of retreating away, she gently laced their fingers together. "You asked me to come and I said yes."

The only time the physician had touched her was for her treatments, and Claire was almost taken back by how comforting the small gesture was. She should have known, though, as Alice's presence alone had a calming effect on her. Claire squeezed her fingers lightly to go with her apology: "I should have known better."

"How could you have possibly known these asholes would be there?"

Claire shook her head, "If we wouldn't have been alone we would have-"

"Gotten in a firefight and probably died," Alice supplied truthfully.

"You don't know that," she said in a small voice that was far off her usual confident and commanding tone.

"Just like you can't predict if we would have made it out alive or not." Alice noticed how much Claire focused on what could have been different instead of dealing with the consequences of what did happen.

She didn't blame Claire at all, but no one has ever taken sure steps forward while they constantly peaked over their shoulder. They'll eventually run into a wall which they could have avoided it if they had been looking in the right direction to begin with.

"Have I told you I really hate it when you're rational when I'm half-freaking out?" Claire chuckled despite the seriousness of their situation.

Alice smirked to herself, thinking their predicament could use a little lightening up. Even if there really was a group of undead around them, they didn't seem to be getting any closer to the pair, which meant her earlier assessment was correct. If they had been in the same room as them Claire and Alice would have been the main course by then. "You sure know how to romance a girl."

Claire shrugged, her overly confident smile was lost in the dark room. "I travelled countless miles to bring you to this really swanky place. I Hope you like overcooked steak."

After a few quiet moments Alice noticed Claire was running the tips of her fingers on the inside of her palm. When Alice spoke again, it was without humour: "for what it's worth, there's no one I'd rather be held prisoner with."

The mechanic was especially grateful Alice couldn't see her reddened face in this moment. She cleared her throat, not too subtly, and managed to reply with: "Look who's romancing now."

Bright neon lights opened without any warning and effectively blinded them both for a few seconds. When their eyes adjusted to the sudden shift in lighting, they were met with a room filled with undead. Both women jerked up to their feet in a mess of badly coordinated limbs and watched crooked fingers desperately trying to reach them.

The undead had been deliberately tied to the walls that made up this room with their jaws ripped out. They were close enough to brush their fingertips against them - the ones who still had such extremities - but not enough to grab a handful of their clothing.

If Alice and Claire didn't move one inch, they were perfectly safe from the undead who relentlessly pulled at their restraints and tried and grab the fresh meat in front of them.

.Fuck? "Stay close," Claire unnecessarily commanded.

"Not like I'm going anywhere," Alice remarked solemnly and pulled on their bound hands to further illustrate her point.

Fuck this whole world.


	6. Wrong Side Of Heaven

**A/N: I'm seriously debating on two plots with the introduction of this 'big bad'. I want it to be unique, but Alice gaining powers like in the movie kind of strays from that. I want to do it, in a different way, but I also don't want to, you see my dilemma? Anyways, just thinking out loud. Hope you all enjoy this!**

* * *

Hayley stood in front of a wide-eyed and worried crowd of survivors; Jill and Chris had taken teams out to look for their leader and the doctor, who had been reported as M.I.A by Arcadia's defense commander. With them gone, Hayley was the next in command as appointed by Claire in case of emergency. Though honored to have received this responsibility Hayley wasn't exactly thrilled to be the bearer of bad news in this case.

She had just gotten an update that Jill had found Alice's Doberman near the auto-shop. Chris had directed his fire team toward the motel and would be there soon; no sign of either of them yet, however.

Hayley's gaze bounced from face to face as she informed the survivor's of her most recent update. Nothing she said appeased the crowd and they were getting more agitated by the minute.

"We probably would have a better chance finding them if we all went together!" One man shouted over the crowd and received a few cheers in return.

But Hayley gently shot him down: "I hardly think that would be wise, not everyone here is battle ready."

"Screw that, Claire would do the same for us!" The man shot back, accompanied by more hoots and hollers in his favor.

Bugger ...Hayley needed to put a stop to this sudden uprising before it got out of control. "Although your intentions are very noble indeed, scattering isn't going to help Claire and Alice. Teams have been deployed for this purpose - we will find them."

"And who are you to give us orders? You're just a guard!"

With a sigh, Hayley shot a few rounds of her handgun in the air and the roaring crowd quieted instantly. "If I see anyone leave Arcadia without my permission, so help me God, I will lock everyone in the barracks until they've returned!" Hayley slipped her handgun back into its holster against her hip.

"Now does anyone still feel like they want to lead a pep rally out of here and get eaten alive?" Finally, she was met with silence. "I'll be here to give updates every hour, you're all welcome to attend," she informed and desperately tried to hold back a smile - this leader gig was both tiring and exhilarating in the best way. She understood why people could get addicted to this kind of power.

Still, it wasn't something she truly enjoyed. She had accepted because Claire had asked her and truthfully, she'd accept babysitting a tree in the middle of the desert without blinking for twenty-four hours if Claire asked her too. Which reminded her of something else the redhead had asked her to take care of, K-mart.

Hayley started worrying when she couldn't find the girl in her quarters but thought of a place she might have been hiding. Hayley knew K-mart's weakness and oddly enough, it was the same as her own.

She made her way to Claire's tent and poked inside to find, as she suspected the young blonde. She was sitting on the cot and had curled her knees against her chest, her head rested on top of them as she stared at nothing in particular.

The sight made Hayley's heart clench painfully, "K-mart," she whispered softly to announce her presence as she gradually approached the cot. When Hayley noticed K-mart didn't protest, she took a seat on the edge of the bed. "How are ya holdin' up kid?"

K-mart shook her head and angrily wiped an escaped tear with her knuckle.

Hayley was slightly confused by the gesture, did it mean she didn't want to talk or she had answered her question? Shite, how does Claire do this? Tentatively, and a little awkwardly, the guard moved closer towards K-mart and lightly bumped her shoulder against her legs. "Why are ya lookin' so worried? They probably eloped to have a romantic romp in the hay," She smiled when her joke had the desired effect. K-mart finally looked up at her, eyes were swollen and red from crying, but there was a sliver of hope on her features.

K-mart took a deep and shaky breath before she spoke: "when they left this morning, Claire promised we'd play cards once they came back." To anyone else, it didn't seem like something to get upset over but to K-mart, it was more than just the promise of playing a game - it was Claire making her a promise she'd come back safe and sound.

When Claire found her, K-mart didn't speak, and really what was there to say? Her family was gone, everything she knew about the world had been perverted to a point where she didn't feel like living was worth the effort. But Claire had soon found out that playing a game of cards was the only way to get the young girl to utter a few words, to smile even.

As Arcadia was being built and grew larger, Claire often had to leave to look for supplies to finish building the wall. She would always tell K-mart the same thing before she left: 'Get the pack of cards ready, when I get back I'm evening the score out,' she would say with a teasing smile.

K-mart would always reply with 'you wish,' because she knew Claire purposefully let her win so really there was no way the score would ever be evened out. It never bothered K-mart, though, the game was just an excuse to take her mind off of the bad things happening outside of these walls. She'd always be grateful for what Claire has done for her, for what she had become to her; a friend, a sister, a mother. Somehow, she thought it made sense that Claire was a mix of all of those.

K-mart was pulled from her thoughts by Hayley's accented voice: "And if she doesn't hold up her end of the bargain I'll let you kick their arses for not checkin' in with ya."

K-mart chuckled, "I love your accent."

"I like yours too," she replied with a wink and stood up. Hayley offered K-mart her hand, "I have to do a perimeter check of the wall, are you comin' with?"

K-mart smiled and took her gloved hand in hers without hesitation. When they were out of the tent, she pulled on Hayley's hand to stop her. She stared down at their joined hands and was reminded of how strikingly similar Claire and Hayley's strong-willed presence were. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Of course, kid." Hayley ruffled the blond head of hair and received a playful glare in return. In that moment another poor soul was gladly handed over to youthful hazel eyes. Dammit, now I get why Claire is like putty in her hands. Kid's got charm.

* * *

"You're finally awake," a man spoke through some sort of intercom, Claire figured.

"Who the hell?" Claire look around the room once more and the realization of where exactly they were dawned on her. Fucking fuck. The filthy cold concrete floors and walls and the musty smell were all pieces of evidence that pointed to a place in particular: they had been brought to a prison.

Claire pulled on her restraints to get Alice's attention and mouthed the word 'prison' to her, not sure if the man could hear them. Weary cobalt eyes followed her lips and Claire didn't need to see Alice's face to know she had made her suspicions reality.

"You don't know me, but I know you: Alice and Claire - a doctor and a mechanic. Such an unlikely...partnership," the man chuckled almost cheerfully.

"Come down here and we'll show you just how unlikely," Claire spat. She really wasn't in the mood to play games, and despite herself, they clearly had just stepped into a wicked one. Seriously, what the fuck? She half expected that Jigsaw doll to pop up any minute now.

"I wouldn't worry about me too much ladies. The creatures that surround you haven't eaten in months and they're bound to break out of their chains one way or another - If I were you, I would hurry." The light just above the large cell door turned green and opened before them - the sound caused the chained undead to tug at their restraints harder.

As if on cue, a chain broke and the freed undead limped its way towards both women with unchecked hunger, arm stretched out in front of him.

"Alice, duck!" Alice bent down and let Claire roll backward onto her back and used the momentum to smash her boot at the undead's head as if wanting to bat a homerun. The head didn't quite disconnect from the putrid body, but Alice knew its spinal column had been compromised by hearing the sound it made. It wasn't dead, however, up until Claire smashed its head in.

Alice awkwardly turned herself to glance at Claire from the corner of her eye, "let's get the hell out of here."

"Lead the way," Claire jerked her head towards the long and narrow corridor ahead of them.

Both women moved from the undead-filled room without too much difficulty. They remained close, moved in tandem, and even walked crouched for a while to avoid the clawing hands.

The room they had been held in, a solitary confinement cell, melted into a long corridor of similar cells. Each turn they made gave them two or more directions they could pick as every damn corridor looked identical. The signs that usually label the cells had been deliberately taken down to turn this prison into a maze equipped with a creepy intercom voice and cheesy jump scares.

Claire was starting to wonder if LJ had just spiked his weed with PCP, though, if this was a bad trip it was the worse one she's ever suffered.

The pair took turns choosing which way to go, though neither of them really knew if they were going to the right way or walking around in circles like morons. Alice hoped for the former.

They stopped in the middle of another corridor which connected to two other intersecting ones. Claire sighed and lightly bumped her chained partner, "your turn."

Alice didn't think too much about it, without any clear directions it was impossible to think they'd even made a single turn in the right direction. "Right," just as they rounded the corner a hand whiffed passed Alice's head. "Oh shit!"

Startled, Claire took a few steps back and pulled Alice along with her. "On three," a beat, "three!" Both women charged the undead and knocked him down without losing their footing (they were becoming good at this chained together thing).

Alice was the one to crush this one's skull this time (they took turns for that too).

"Are you alright?" Claire asked quickly.

Alice's breathing was shaky as her heart just experienced one of the promised cheesy jump scares."Yeah," a breath, "yeah, I'm fine."

They continued down the filthy prison halls, both of them moved slower and a little more on guard, having learned their lesson. "Does this asshole think he's Stephen King?" Claire thought out loud.

Alice shrugged as her eyes traveled along the bloody handprints smeared on the concrete walls. Words were written amongst them, some she recognized as biblical and others were just nonsensical. "I came across a fair share of crazies in the last four years, I wouldn't be surprised if this was all for his personal entertainment."

"I'll give him a fucking show, piece of shit," Claire growled.

"Let's find a way out of here first," Alice smiled and thought it was ridiculous how her brain decided that an angry Claire was incredibly cute - or perhaps she was mistaken and it was her lower abdomen who thought it was incredibly sexy. Probably both, she concluded.

Claire voiced her discontent over this whole thing with a disgruntled grunt and it reminded Alice of how Kratos made similar sounds when annoyed. Perhaps not a flattering comparison for the redhead, but the sudden fear of not knowing where her companion was slapped Alice in the face suddenly.

They remained silent up until Claire spotted a body lying on the ground by a dead-end (pun intended). She squinted her eyes and pulled her partner towards it, "Look over there,"

"I can't exactly see…" Alice reminded with a slightly annoyed edge in her tone.

Claire rolled her eyes, "there's a body on the ground and a sign over it."

Alice frowned and asked, intrigued: "What's it say?"

"Key inside," Claire gagged at the mere image of having to plunge her hand inside a rotting corpse. "You're up, Doc."

Alice chuckled as she switched positions with Claire and led her towards the headless body. Claire crouched down with Alice, eternally grateful she didn't have to witness the scene unfolding behind her. Though the sounds of Alice's hand making its way into the corpse was enough to spark her imagination once more. "This is way too Devil's Rejects for me."

"Thought you liked getting your hands dirty," Alice teased as she moved around the man's chest cavity. His heart seemed to be in good condition, for a dead body, she thought as he searched his organs for the promised keys.

"Yeah, this is more your style Doc."

"Well well well, it seems Stevie here had an alcohol problem or hepatitis," Alice chided a little too cheerfully.

Claire made a face and shook her head, "I really don't know why I'm asking, but how do you know this?"

A smirk spread on her lips as she thought about how getting a rise out of her red-headed friend was far too easy: "His liver, which my hand is in right now, is very bloated and enlarged."

Another gag, "stop," she pleaded although knowing fully well she had brought this on herself.

"You asked," Alice teased as she dug around his stomach.

"Just get the damn key," Claire grumbled and rolled her eyes when she heard Alice clear her throat expectantly. "Please," she forcefully added.

"Got it," Alice announced as she felt the hard metal brush against her fingertips. Once she fished them out, both women stood up and Alice attempted to unlock their restraints but was nowhere near successful.

"Let me try," Claire demanded and felt the keys pushed into her hands. She held them at an angle while she brought their bound hands up and then down. After a few seconds of jerking around with the lock, she heard a satisfying click. Their restraints fell down between them, finally freeing their hands.

Alice rubbed the red marks on her sore wrists as she turned around to face Claire. "My hero," she teased with a wink.

Claire chuckled, "God, you're so annoying," she shook her head at the woman fondly. Once she stared into her blue eyes she cursed herself for not being able to look away or to control what she was saying, apparently. "And if you weren't covered in guts right now I'd kiss the shit out of you."

Alice swallowed thickly, somehow Claire's straightforwardness had rendered her confidence null - only for a moment, though, let's not panic. She took a step forward, and then another, "don't tell me you're squeamish." Alice could see the mental debate Claire's green eyes showed, but the dilation of her pupils clearly told Alice she had lost the war.

"Ah, fuck it," Claire closed the distance between them as her hands found their way into dirty blonde locks and her mouth forcefully latched onto Alice's lips. The kiss was void of romance; it was rough and carnal and was the result of the explosive need that had been built up for months.

Their lips were dry and salty, the smell of blood and decomposition hung in the air around them and yet all of those unpleasant things were rendered moot by the sudden burst of emotions that surfaced between them.

Claire felt Alice grab her waist, and probably smeared undead guts all over her clothes in the process, but she was way past caring because Alice's tongue demanded entrance into her mouth and she willingly granted it.

Moans turned to groans when Claire pushed Alice back against the wall and crashed into her. Their hands explored the limited boundaries of their dirty clothes and teasingly poked under them to make contact with heated skin.

Alice detached her mouth from Claire's to take a much-needed breath. She looked down and watched as Claire's hand travelled down her abdomen. Reluctantly, Alice captured and stilled Claire's hand and received a frown in return. "Not that I'm not enjoying this, but we should probably continue this at a more non-prison-break time."

Claire pulled back but kept her palms on Alice's stomach while her fingers played with the fabric absent-mindedly. "You know, Alice, sometimes I wonder if your insistently annoying rationality is really just a cover-up for your need to tease me constantly."

Alice chuckled as she gently moved passed Claire and slowly regained control of her breathing. She didn't need to watch Claire's disappointed look reel her back into the warmth of her mouth - this really wasn't the place to consummate anything. Besides, it was dirty and reeked of death.

Why yes Dr. Redfield, you have me figured out, she wanted to say. "Come on, wonder snatch, let's find a way out." Alice already started walking away, knowing she'd need the head start.

"What did you just fucking call me?" Claire asked as she increased the rapidity of her stride to catch up to her.

Alice walked faster, "eh, nothing?" but had to break into a run to escaped the growling woman playfully chasing after her.

Making light of a serious shit uation was the best Alice could do right now because her alternative would be to figure out exactly what she felt for Claire. Right now, her thoughts were elsewhere. Her priority was getting herself and Claire out of here safely and finding Kratos.

* * *

Chris and Jill entered the deserted hotel lobby, weapons drawn. "Hello? Anyone here?" His grave voice echoed through the large lobby; it wasn't clean, nor were the walls or furniture intact, but it seemed like people had been taking care of what remained.

A voice replied to his question and soon after a body appeared on the staircase - an old woman dressed like a midwife from the 60's. "What are you shouting for? And for God's sake, put those weapons away you won't need 'em here." She had a Texan drawl, but it was subtle.

"What's a handsome pair like you two doing here?" The woman asked as she stepped down from the staircase and carefully padded towards the two strangers. She was alone this time of day and hoped these people were really as friendly as they looked because she had nothing to defend herself with if they weren't. She also hoped her confidence was convincing enough.

Jill lowered her weapon and slung the rifle over her shoulder. She tightened the strap around her chest and stepped closer to the woman, a smile on her face. She glanced at Chris over her shoulder and gave him a look until he reluctantly did the same.

She understood his wariness, and maybe iron sights were already trained on their heads and followed their every movement, but Jill thought they should play this safe. Chris was always slow to trust strangers, which was considerably wise as dealing with survivors sometimes proved to be harder than dealing with raiders.

Though this woman didn't exactly have the look of someone who concealed a shotgun under her pastel-colored cardigan, so Jill figured there was nothing to fear. "Our scavenging teams told us at least a dozen people were holding up here, they thought you'd be in danger," the ex-cop explained.

The woman laughed heartily, "four years into this living hell and you still think non-military types are incapable of defending themselves?"

Jill frowned, "that's not-"

"What exactly is it you want from us?" She demanded curtly.

"Two of our friends were supposed to have come here ahead of us, but we think something happened them."

The woman rose a gray eyebrow, "and they were alone?" Even before she received an answer, her tone was already judgmental.

"Yes,"

Mary chuckled darkly, "Serves them right. Who goes walking around the white horseman's territory alone? Fools, that's who."

Jill snarled slightly, this woman was seriously starting to drain all of her patience.

Chris visibly stiffened beside her and replied with surprising restraint: "And who might this 'horseman' be?"

Mary sighed as she grabbed her glasses, which were hanging around her neck, and placed them over her eyes. Poor fools. "I'm guessing you're familiar with the bible's last book, Revelations, and the story of the four horsemen?"

Chris nods but frowns, "Sure, but what would a fanatic who calls himself a horseman have anything to do with our friends?"

"Not a fanatic, my handsome boy, the horseman uses the title out of blasphemy," Mary explained with subtle anger. "People go missing around these parts," she paused, "I don't need to explain further do I?"

"What use would this 'horseman' have for them?" Chris asked and grew increasingly worried each time the woman answered his questions. A dark picture of where her sister could be formed into his head, and he hated that it affected him so deeply; he was a soldier, he learned to remain focused when bombs were literally blowing up beside him. A threat to his sister's life, however, that he could not cope with.

Mary simply shrugged, "no one ever leaves the prison once they're in, and dead men tell no tale."

"He'll be telling his last tale when we find him," Jill thought there was an air of nonchalance about Mary, but couldn't quite pinpoint what for exactly.

"Do you know which prison it is?" Chris asked hopeful, yet he doubted that anything was ever that simple.

"I could and I will, but you'll only be wasting your time. The doctor takes no prisoners."

Jill's eyes widened significantly at the mention of a doctor, but she remained quiet. There was no use in throwing anyone under the bus for what one stranger said, though, she wasn't too sure Chris was thinking the same way she was.

"A doctor?" Chris asked; he was way passed worried and leaning towards agitated at the moment. Alice...

"The white horsemen," Mary nodded, "they say the doctor was the one who caused all of this; the dead walking amongst the living."

"And do you know who this doctor is?" Chris wasn't sure why he even asked, his mind had been made. It made sense, he thought, why Alice came upon Arcadia when she did, how she knew to cut off John hand when he was bitten. All evidence overwhelmingly stacked against her.

"If I knew I wouldn't be here. If you want to see your friends again, you best get going," Mary warned. The motel had suffered many losses over the years and most of them were because of the white horseman. If these strangers could rid the world of the blasphemous piece of trash, then it meant God had finally answered her prayers.

"Chris, you don't really think it's..." Jill trailed off, her own doubts made it hard to make sense of this information.

Chris' jaw clenched tightly, if it really was Alice then he wouldn't allow himself to make the same mistake twice. "The good Doc has some explaining to do."

* * *

"Alice, this way!" Claire pushed open a heavy metal door and green eyes were met with sunlight and Arizona humidity that made her already clingy clothes stick to her body like a second skin.

Alice stepped outside, just behind Claire, as a gust of wind blew and lightly showered them with sand. "I've never been so happy to have sand thrown into my eyes," Alice remarked half-serious - though the stinging in her eyes was unpleasant it was better than being stuck in Pinhead's hell maze.

"Stella!" Claire shouted as she spotted her Jeep, intact and parked like it had been waiting for them.

Alice frowned as she turned to Claire beside her, only to realize she had already ran halfway to the vehicle. Alice shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand as she watched Claire's backside, unabashed. She leisurely marched towards the Jeep and jumped in the passenger's seat, "who now?"

Claire took her place in the driver's seat and seemed reluctant to answer the doctor's question. "The Jeep," she motioned with her hand and glanced sideways at the Alice and cursed out loud when she saw the teasing smirk slowly form on those perfect lips.

"You named it Stella ?"

"Don't judge," she grumbled.

"Too late," Alice replied truthfully with a laugh.

Claire dutifully ignored her and spotted something sitting on their backseat as she glanced into the rearview mirror. She swiftly turned in her seat and caught sight of both of her Berettas in their respective holster as well as Alice's knifes. "Our weapons are all here," Claire turned towards Alice with a deep frown, "this whole thing was planned."

Alice leaned forward and tried to radio, but it was dead. Figures… "Radio's busted," she turned to Claire, eyebrow raised in slight unbelief. "He wanted us to get out. What could he possibly want with us?"

What everyone always wants, "Arcadia; our food our weapons. Either way, we're coming back with the cavalry and we're burning this place to the damn ground."

"Angry looks good on you," Alice spoke her thoughts out loud as she fixed Claire's profile.

Claire chuckled as she turned the key that was already in the ignition switch and happily listened to the Jeep roar to life. She turned to Alice while she shifted the vehicle into first gear and kept her eyes glued to blue ones as she husked: "so you do."

It seemed as though Alice's heart was really into doing highly acrobatic moves inside her chest and for a second she wondered what breathing meant. Score one for Claire... "We still have time to get to the Hotel before sundown," Alice remarked which made her partner let out a somewhat evil laugh; she had won this battle.

Claire peeled out of the prison's driveway and maneuvered the jeep in an unnecessary, yet skillful drift on the way out. Both women hollered cheerfully as they cranked up I Prevail's 'Come and Get It'. The ride would take them less than an hour, perhaps even less than thirty minutes if Claire decided to go over the non-existent speed limit.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing?" Claire yelled at her brother. When they arrived at the hotel, Claire had spotted on of their Lorry's in front. Once they were inside, she was relieved to see her brother and Jill and everything seemed fine until Chris looked at Alice. She didn't know exactly what happened to make Chris snap at her this way - Alice hadn't even uttered a word before he slammed her against the wall and put a knife to her throat.

Claire lunged forward and grabbed her brother's shoulders in an attempt to pull him off Alice, but Chris easily shrugged her off of him. His mind was one-tracked and it dangerously zeroed in on the doctor.

Claire took a shaky step back, her eyes locked with Alice's calm ones. Her smile alone was enough to relax her, but she feared what her brother would do; she has never seen him like this before.

"It's fine Claire," Alice reassured as her hand clutched to her kukri. If Chris wanted to pin what happened to them on her, then she hoped he was ready for a fight this time. Although she had tried understood where his anger came from before, his luck ran out the same moment her patience did.

Chris pressed his forearm down against her collarbone. "No, it really isn't. You have some explaining to do, Doc. "

"Interesting…" Mary said and instantly received a glare from Jill.

"So do you," Alice replied and poked the sharp edge of her kukri against his rib cage.

Chris let out a humorless chuckle as he felt the sharp blade, "you're responsible for all of this, admit it!"

"You're seriously going to stick with that insane story, Chris? That I'm the big bad wolf who's going to blow your house down? I've done nothing but help you and everyone in Arcadia!"

"You said it, a wolf in sheep's clothing."

"You really think I would purposely put Claire in danger?"

"Yeah, and I think you orchestrated this whole thing. Mary here told me no one ever escapes the prison, but here you are, right as rain."

"Have you thought that maybe he wanted us to get out?"

"Sure, that's convenient. Just like it's convenient you found Arcadia when you did and how you knew you had to cut off John's hand to stop the infection. You know so much about the virus because you created it!"

"He's got a point, darling," Mary interjected.

"Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you," Jill warned the elderly woman and was instantly met with Claire's grateful eyes.

Alice frowned, she thought this was about the mission going sideways. "I think you and I are having a very different conversation, what the hell are you talking about?"

"The virus that started all of this, Mary told us a doctor called the white horseman created it."

Ah, it all becomes clear. "Right, and you think I'm that doctor."

Chris smirks, "good, you've been following."

"You're accusing the only doctor you know just because it suits your delusional witch hunt, I thought you were smarter than that Chris."

"Seems I really haven't been since I left you alone with my sister and you almost killed her you son of bitch!"

"It was a man who had us locked up, Chris" Claire interjected, "It couldn't have been Alice."

Chris scoffed, "Then they're working together. Jesus, Claire, are you that blind?"

"Alright, that's enough!" Claire's hand shook uncontrollably as she un-holstered her Beretta and pointed it at her brother's back. She felt nauseous and was torn between wanting to shout or cry, but she needed to stay whole for just one more moment.

"Let her go, Chris," she said evenly. Her brother clearly was going off the deep end and she wasn't going to let him hurt Alice or anyone else for a ridiculously far-fetched coincidence.

Surprisingly, Chris let her go without much of a fight and turned towards Claire slowly. Her weapon stopped shaking once he walked towards her and her gun was pressed tightly into his chest. His expression softened and became melancholic as he stared down at the weapon his sister held. Slowly, he looked back up at Claire with teary eyes that matched hers. "Is this what you really want to do, Claire, shoot me?"

Claire nearly broke down then and there - God, this can't be happening . She swallowed thickly, her throat burned from how tightly it was constricting. "I don't want to hurt you Chris, but you're scaring me." She moved her gaze towards Jill, who also had her hand on her weapon.

Jill's gaze bounced between both siblings, not knowing what to do or think; frozen in fear.

Claire closed her eyes for a moment and then turned her teary eyes back to her brother. She remembered a time where she would instantly find comfort in his soft green eyes, but right now, she couldn't feel anything. "You're scaring all of us, you need to go."

He nodded as moved passed her, "you've made your choice, I hope you can live with it." He said without turning back.

Jill moved to Claire's side and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder; she didn't know what to say exactly. All of this was all kinds of messed up. "Claire, I..."

"Just...keep an eye on him, please?" Claire asked.

Jill nodded and then glanced at Alice, pointedly moving her gaze between the doctor and Claire.

Alice nodded as if to say 'she'll be safe with me'.

After their silent exchange, Jill squeezed the hand that Claire had placed over hers before she left them to meet Chris outside.

Only when Jill disappeared behind the double glass doors did Claire allow herself to break down completely. Arms wrapped around her, but it didn't prevent her world from falling apart.


	7. Someone To Hate

**A/N: again, thank you all for your kind comments.** **I've thought about it and for now I think Alice will remain powerless, but I might be inclined to have her learn how to use automatic weapons at some point.**

* * *

When Claire wakes up the first thing she noticed was that she wasn't in her tent, the second was that a warm body was wrapped behind her. Startled, as this certainly was not a common occurrence for her, Claire quickly untangled herself from the body and jumped off of the bed in a single bound.

Once the sleep haze had gone, Claire felt like a complete idiot as she spotted the blonde head poking from under the covers. A single blue eye opened and stared at her questioningly.

"Mm-what, Claire?"

 _Was that a question?_ Claire chuckled and definitely didn't think a sleepy Alice looked cute. "Go back to sleep, I'm going to see if I can do anything about our radio," she reassured with a quiet whisper.

"Mhm, later." There wasn't much protesting on her part, as soon as the mumbled words left her mouth Alice was already asleep and snoring lightly.

Claire found her boots neatly placed near the door, next to Alice's. With a small smile, she slipped them on and wondered if being orderly was a doctor thing or strictly an Alice thing. Last night was...intense and the only thing that kept her from completely falling apart was Alice's calm presence.

After her brother and Jill left, Mary had offered them to stay for the night. Claire didn't exactly trust the elderly woman but she wasn't going to turn down a hot shower and a cozy bed after the shitty day she had.

When Claire questioned why she had given them only one key, Mary had commented that the honeymoon suit was empty and that they best make good use of it.

Alice had laughed and thanked her, while Claire growled and asked if the outbreak had rendered everyone incapable of minding their own business or if it was just an endearing quality the woman had.

Alice, although she really wanted to laugh at Mary's wide-eyed and slack-jawed expression, decided it was best to remind Claire of the shower she wanted to take.

After said shower, Claire had gone straight to bed but unfortunately, sleep didn't want to claim her so easily. That is until Alice had joined her a little later and she felt wet strands of the woman's hair brush against her shoulder. An arm wrapped around her midsection and everything after that was forgotten as they both finally got some well-deserved slumber.

On the way down the large staircase, Claire spotted their gracious host who had seemingly been waiting for her.

"Good morning child! Sleep well?" was asked with as much coyness as Claire had expected from the woman.

For a second, Claire wondered if Alice wouldn't mind being an accomplice to murder but then remembered laws weren't exactly a thing anymore and she was practically free to do what she pleased. She also remembered, however, that she was one of the good guys.

Claire didn't bother answering her and instead made a demand of her own: "I have a few questions."

"Of course, come this way."

Mary led her to what used to be the hotel's cafeteria. About a dozen pair of eyes turned towards her as he entered, and spoke hushed whisper of last night's events. Claire wasn't usually one to feel uncomfortable with eyes on her, but there was an eeriness here she couldn't quite get passed.

Mary led her to an empty table and ushered her into a seat. "Pay no mind to them, they're just curious."

"Sure," Claire smiled forcefully as she sat down. _So you think bringing me here grants you immunity? Don't think I won't pull my gun on you just because I'm outnumbered_. Though, Claire was in no way undermining her. Mary was smart, perhaps a little too smart, but didn't hide her game very well.

"So, you had questions?"

Claire smirked, she was right about her; smart, but rushed. Mary's nice hostess routine was full of shit. She wanted them out of her hair and quickly, but why? What did Mary have to hide?

"This white horseman," Claire wanted to laugh at the name. _Honestly, four years and that's the best you come up with?_ "What does he want?"

"I've never had the pleasure to ask," she deflected expertly.

Claire scoffed, "Right. So you're telling me this guy's evil as they come but he just lets all of you peacefully live here?" Well, that hit a nerve, she watched as Mary averted her eyes and nervously switched her position.

With a heavy sigh, Mary leaned forward on the table and whispered: "some of my people have seen a person who had escaped the prison. They were...deformed and died soon after."

"Deformed?" Claire rose an eyebrow, needing a little more than just vague information.

"Human, but not," she spoke bitterly.

"He's experimenting on them?"

"Perhaps, or perhaps he's attempting to fix his mistake," Mary leaned back into her seat, gray eyes challenging.

Claire nodded and sensed Mary was done playing twenty questions with her. "Thank you, for everything," Claire stood up and smiled when she heard Mary's barely audible sigh of relief.

She turned her attention to the survivors who were sitting scattered at different tables in the room, "for those of you who would like to come to Arcadia, you're all welcome. I'll leave a map at the front desk."

When Claire turned to Mary, her nice act had all but gone as a snarl took the place of her fake smile. The redhead simply winked at her and left. She didn't know exactly what Mary was doing to keep her dibs on this hotel, but whatever it was it couldn't be good.

 _Fucking creepy,_ she murmured to herself. Claire was almost positive that the prison had a better vibe than this place.

* * *

When Alice stepped outside, she noticed the sun was at its peak in the sky; the heat scorching. _Must be close to noon, can't believe I slept that long._ Alice stretched her arms above her head as she lazily strode towards the Jeep, happy to feel the weight of her kukri blades against her hips as she walked.

It was something that had taken her awhile to get used to, having weapons on her at all time. Though now she would feel naked without them as they brought her a morbid sense of comfort.

The Jeep's front doors were open so that Claire wouldn't feel like a medium-rare piece of roast beef stuck in an oven as she worked inside the vehicle. The Radio had been pulled out and a mess of wires stuck out from where it used to be on top of the dashboard.

Alice yawned as she placed her leg up on the Jeep's side step and rested her elbow against the open passenger's side window.

Claire momentarily glanced up at the woman and smiled, sweat dribbled down her forehead and pearled as it reached the tip of her nose and she stared back down at the wires in her hands. "Thought you'd never wake up," she teased lightly.

"Did I never tell you my spirit animal is a bear?" Alice grinned and fixed her eyes on the clenching muscles in Claire's forearms and noticed how her jaw also clenched at the same time.

Claire chuckled and shook her head, "how about you give me a hand instead of staring at me like that?"

"Only 'cause you asked so nicely," Alice pushed forward with the foot that was on the ground and easily jumped into the empty seat. She grabbed the pieces of heat shrink and the lighter Claire gave her and started to wrap the naked wires.

She watched the orange flame flicker along with the wind for a moment and thought about how something that could be so dangerous could easily be put out with a gust of wind one a drop of water. It reminded her of Claire, actually.

Alice turned to the woman, whose brow was crinkled in concentration as she cut into the wire's protective covering with her knife and pulled it out with her teeth then nonchalantly spit it out at her feet without missing a beat.

Alice thought about asking her how she was, but she sensed the redhead didn't feel like talking about it. She didn't exactly know what else to talk about and so they worked in awkward silence until Claire broke it.

"I talked to Mary this morning,"

"Where'd you hide the body?"

Alice's dark humor managed to make Claire look away from her work as she let out a hearty laugh.

 _I love her laugh_ , Alice thought with a soft smile.

Claire leaned back in her seat and looked at the rusted vehicles polluting the streets; she realized she didn't even remember what traffic sounded like (though not entirely a bad thing).

She turned towards Alice, demeanor suddenly downed. "She said that someone had been spotted coming out from the prison and they looked deformed but definitely human - not a flesh-eater."

"He's experimenting on humans?" Alice was shocked, angry, saddened even. She couldn't understand how a doctor could betray the very fiber of the ethical code they were taught in med school. If I get my hands on him I'll switch his trachea for his colon.

"Seems like," Claire switched the last broken wire and screwed the radio back onto its rack on the dashboard.

"What is he trying to do?" Alice pondered out loud as she helped Claire place everything back into the heat shrink kit and slid it into its spot under her seat.

"She didn't know, or wouldn't say," Claire put her bet on the latter. "Wanna do the honors?" she asked after selecting the right channel.

"Starlight 4 for Eagle's nest, do you copy?"

Claire stared at Alice and thought she had gotten the hang of their radio protocols pretty quickly - not to mention she looked good doing it. Maybe that was just her libido talking, though.

"That's a copy for Seagull Alpha Three-one," Hayley replied cheerfully on the other end.

"We're coming home," Alice had said, simply.

"Roger that, ma'am. We're rollin' the red carpet."

Claire chuckled, she had always thought Hayley saying 'ma'am' sounded like 'mom' because of her thick Irish accent.

"Have you-" Alice swallowed thickly, suddenly nervous of the answer she would receive. "Is Kratos…?" If he wasn't with them, she would have asked Claire to dump her at the auto-shop to look for him - there was no way in hell she'd leave him alone again. Not after everything they've gone through.

The answer she received flooded her with relief: "Safe and sound, Doctor Abernathy."

"Over and out," she clipped the radio back into its place and settled in her seat, a relaxed grin tugged the corner of her lips. "Take me home?"

"With pleasure," the Jeep caused a small sandstorm as Claire pulled out of their makeshift parking she threw a quick glance in the rearview mirror to watch the hotel slowly become but a blip in the desolate wasteland they called home.

Alice observed how Claire was fidgeting with her fingers on the steering wheel while the hand on the shifter knob was drumming to silence; signs of nicotine withdrawal, the doctor diagnosed.

Without giving it too much thought, Alice covered Claire's hand that was on the shift stick as if she had done it a million times before. She felt Claire's fingers twitch but they quickly relaxed under her own.

Claire wasn't used to this feeling; sure she felt want and need like everyone else, but deliberate intimacy that didn't demand anything in return she had never been keen on.

Yet, here she was, letting Alice cuddle her in her sleep and comfort her like it was the most natural thing in the world. And perhaps it was, Claire just needed that one person to make her see that being cared for wasn't so bad after all, and despite herself, she was beginning to truly believe it.

The ride to Arcadia was spent in silence, without music, as their weary minds needed rest even if their bodies had been refreshed from a good's night sleep.

When they pulled into the gated compound, their stomachs grumbled and Claire couldn't wait to bite in a fresh tomato; her body never really appreciated canned food and she avoided it like the plague but Mary's bed and breakfast hadn't exactly included the 'breakfast'.

When Claire had parked the Jeep and shut off the engine, her foot wasn't even on the ground before K-mart came crashing into her. When they pulled back from the hug, Claire wiped away the young woman's tears and smiled down at her. "Don't tell me you were worried about me?"

K-mart scoffed, but it wasn't too convincing. "No, why would I worry? I know you were just scared to come back and get your ass kicked at cards. And by the way, you owe me like a dozen games. Hayley said so."

Claire laughed, "is that right?"

K-mart nodded enthusiastically and her eyes sparkled with excitement as she watched Kratos jump onto a crouched Alice.

When K-mart turned to her, Claire nodded, "Go." It wasn't like the teen to ask for permission to do anything, especially not to play with Kratos, but Claire guessed even K-mart had sensed Alice needed some time alone with him. She's such a smart kid, the redhead thought proudly.

There was a feeling that settled in the pit of her stomach as she watched K-mart and Kratos playfully gang up on Alice. A feeling she couldn't name but felt oddly familiar with. Much like an old friend you had a disagreement with but deep down you knew they had been right.

A feeling that, although she had attempted to escape for the last four years, had suddenly crept up on her in the form of a lanky blonde woman with piercing blue eyes.

 _Shit._

* * *

Once they had settled back into their routine, Claire had called Jill, Alice, Chris, and Hayley to the command station for a debrief on the situation. She wasn't sure if her brother would show, which is why she had been standing in front of his tent for the past ten minutes.

Claire never had falling outs with her brother, they always put their differences aside and agreed to disagree before letting something like that create a rift between them. Although Claire had chosen to kick him out of the hotel yesterday, she hoped he would come to his senses and get over this feud with Alice he was so determined to keep alive.

She didn't understand what happened between then and now; when Alice first got to Arcadia he loved her. What she did to make him lose his trust so quickly was the million dollar question on her mind.

Still, Claire stilled her nerves and entered his tent. "Chris," she frowned as her brother packed his belongings. "What are you doing?"

"You said I needed to go," the man grunted while he stuffed water and energy bars into his duffle bag, "I'm going."

"Chris I-I didn't mean it like that," Claire whispered, not an ounce of confidence left in her voice.

"Just like you didn't mean to chose Alice over your own brother?"

"You were out of line and you know it," she breathed dangerously as the fire in her gut came back with a vengeance; Claire wasn't going to let his brother just dump all the blame on her shoulders.

Chris sighed as he zipped his bag closed and threw it on his cot. He turned to his sister, his tone softer now: "maybe, maybe not and honestly, I'm not sure about anything right now. Maybe you're right and I'm way off track, and that's why I need to go."

Claire nodded and remained silent for a moment as she watched the battle he silently fought with himself. She hated seeing him like this and she wished she could snap her fingers and make it go away. Though things were never that easy, she feared.

"At least bring this with you," Claire unclipped the handheld radio from her belt and offered it to her brother, but didn't let him grab it right away. "Promise you'll call if you run into trouble," she demanded sternly.

Chris chuckled - _always gotta protect everyone_. "I promise," he took the radio and clipped it on his belt before he pulled Claire into a warm embrace.

Claire sighed as she pressed her face into his neck and wrapped her arms around his wide shoulders. For a few seconds, the comfort almost broke her resolve. She wanted to beg him to stay here; stay safe. Yet, she knew this was the right thing to do for everyone.

This time alone would be good for him, he'd come back and everything would be like before. She didn't know just how wrong she was then, but she'd come to regret her decision.

"I love you," she mumbled into his shirt.

"Love you too, Redhot."

"Oh God, I thought you said you'd never bring that up again," Claire was embarrassed enough by the memories of her youth, she didn't need her brother poking fun at them as well.

"I lied," he grinned as he pulled back from Claire's arms and threw the heavy duffle back over his shoulder. "Take care," Chris spoke softly as he kissed the side of her head before he left her alone in his tent; he really didn't want to draw out this goodbye any longer - it sucked ass.

When Claire entered the command station, her mind was in war-mode and nothing could switch it off. No one uttered a word about Chris' absence even if they could all clearly see the aftermath of tears in her green eyes.

Claire walked towards their map and noticed someone had placed a miniature horse toy, most likely from a board game, onto the prison's location. "We know nothing about him, but he seemed to know a lot about us," Claire brainstormed out-loud.

"He's got someone on the inside?" Jill proposed.

 _Of course_ , Claire thought, _a trojan horse_. The earliest weapon of war ever created, used against them. _That fucker is going down_. "We need to find them," Claire growled.

She explained to the three women in the room how they would draw the traitor out and what each of them needed to do. _You should have killed us when you had the chance_ , Claire thought darkly.

* * *

The reunion hall buzzed with whispers as Arcadia's population slowly filled the wooden building and occupied its previously empty chairs. Some murmured about recent rumors while others spoke about the relief they felt now that their redheaded leader was back.

The hall had a fairly simple design: a high ceiling that featured large wooden beams and a square-shaped room filled with chairs. A stage-like platform at the other end of the room elevated the speaker just a few inches above everyone else. Torches placed around the room created a dramatic lighting that bathed the occupants in a mix of bright orange glow and dark shadows.

Claire stepped onto the stage and cheers immediately erupted. Even though she missed her brother's warm eyes on her during assemblies like this, she couldn't help but smile at the crowd's warm welcome-back.

"I trust Hayley was good with everyone?" Claire asked with a slight grin.

"She threatened to lock us up!" The man that had started the uproar shouted from the back of the room.

"Ah, so you weren't so good with her then?" Claire chuckled as she winked at the guard in question, who was thankful for the shadow hiding the blush on her face. Hayley had given her a rundown of what happened during her absence, in her cute accent no less (not that Alice had anything to fear).

"She told me what you wanted to do and although I'm flattered -" her words were cut short by someone yelling 'we love you, Claire!'. The leader grinned and shook her head as she fought her own blush, but let her tone grow serious: "My life isn't worth the lives of everyone in this room. Not now, and not ever," she explained sternly.

Sure, Claire was proud of they way they cared for each other and how united they all were - but as she had experienced firsthand, suicide missions were risky and usually didn't end very well. Working as a group was their strength from the start, and it will be the very thing that makes them overcome every obstacle in their path.

"We have little information on the man who held Alice and I captive - apart that's he's an arrogant ass - there are...rumors that he might have created the virus that caused the outbreak." She was interrupted once more by someone shouting 'to the stakes!'.

Claire aptly sent a glare his way and continued: "we'll be doing some recon of the prison before even thinking about doing anything brash. He's holding people hostage and he might have an army backing him up."

"What we do know, however, is that there's had been an intruder in Arcadia. This person was feeding him information about us, about our camp, and about our missions. He knows far more about us than we know about him which puts us at a disadvantage."

"But, we're about to turn it around," Claire watched Alice burst in through the door with a woman; she pushed her forward and growled at her to move quicker until they both were in front of Claire and the stunned crowd.

Alice had bound her hands together with an old pair of handcuffs Jill had kept (though she admitted it wasn't for their usual purpose).

The woman, Jade, didn't look up at the crowd but heard her name whispered on shocked lips. She couldn't look at their faces after she's done and whatever punishment waited for her she'd gladly accept.

The bait and switch was fairly simple: Claire drew out the traitor by calling a meeting and naturally, Jade took a wide bite of the offered lure and decided to snoop around while everyone was congregated here; Alice had been the lucky winner of the hunt as she found Jade rummaging through her own tent, oddly enough. She would have excepted Claire's tent to be more high profile.

"She'll inform him of attacks that aren't truly coming and tell him everything's been quiet when truly we're advancing on him," Claire further illustrated the linework of her plan.

"It doesn't guarantee us she'll really do it," a concerned voice said.

Claire smiled as she had reached the same conclusion earlier. "No, but the threat to her life might jog her in that direction." She knew it was harsh, but war was never pretty, nor did it make place for weakness. Even if her threats to the woman's life were empty on her part she needed her to think - they all needed to think - that it was true.

Alice held her blade against the woman's throat and the looks she received in return were none too friendly at first. She sighed and hoped Claire was right about this. If they weren't on board with her, this could quickly go sideways.

"They want to start a war?" Claire growled, "then we'll give it to them!" Much to her surprise the survivors stood up and cheered and began chanting 'Arcadia' in unison.

Alice left the reunion hall soon after just as planned, pulling Jade in front of her. She met Jill outside of the building and pushed the prisoner forward towards her.

"How'd it go?" Arcadia's defense commander asked as she then passed the woman along to one of the guards that was with her. "Wait for me," she told him as they walked out of earshot.

"Surprisingly well," Alice glanced behind her, "they're all hyped up for the blood hunt."

Jill chuckled.

"You didn't seem too worried," Alice remarked with a raised eyebrow.

Jill rolled her eyes with a smirk, "please, they'd follow Claire to Alaska without shoes on if she asked them."

Alice smiled, she could see it happening. "She's something alright." Truthfully, she was in awe of how easily Claire could command a crowd and captivate their attention completely with such ease. She could snap her fingers and they would fall in line like trained soldiers.

"And don't you forget it," Jill subtly warned her before she left and joined the guard, directing him towards the command station. They had constructed a cell in there; this would be the first time they would use it so Jill posted two guards there on watch.

Alice leaned against the building and watched Jill confidently command her men. She wondered if that was Jill's version of the 'if you hurt her I'll kill you' speech. She kept it short and to the point and Alice chuckled at just how much it fit her personality.

Back inside the hall, Claire ended this meeting like she usually did once the crowd had settled down: "are there any other matters any of you wish to discuss?"

"What's going on with you and the doc?"

 _Good, let's get that out of the way._ "I've been nothing but transparent with you all - and it will remain that way. However, that part of my life is personal. I assure you that my relationship with Alice will not come between my duties and the promises I've made, and kept," Claire emphasized clearly, "for the last four years."

Someone let out a wolf whistle which resulted in a snowball effect of comments such as 'hit that, come on!' and 'go get her, girl!'.

"Don't get me wrong, your enthusiasm is fucking great, but please keep your comments within respectful limits." Satisfied with their cooperation, Claire brought their meeting to an end and dismissed the survivors.

She watched them filter out of the building as quickly as they had piled in and only left the hall once it had been emptied. Claire closed the door behind her and notice a scruffy blonde head from the corner of her eye.

Alice watched her for a moment and said: "that went better than I thought it would."

"Thank you for trusting me," Claire spoke softly as they started walking together.

"Think it'll work?" Alice asked as she stuffed both of her hands inside her pockets. She glanced down at her boots and watched as each step lifted the sand under her feet.

The pacifist in her thought war to be a waste, but becoming a survivor changed her views and she understood it was needed; sacrifices and risks were part of their lives whether they liked it or not. If this prick was really capturing people for his personal twisted entertainment and experimented on them line animals, then she'd gladly participate in his downfall.

"It has too." If it doesn't, Claire thought, she hoped that their numbers were greater than theirs. She had never officially declared war on another group, and apart from the raider's usual meager attempts to infiltrate Arcadia, they really had been no reason to.

"You know, if the world was still spinning the right way I'd tell you to run for president," Alice commented and effectively broke the comfortable silence that had settled between them.

Claire laughed and bumped her shoulder with Alice's. "You think I'd have a chance of winning?"

"With me as your campaign manager we'd change the world," was Alice's dramatic and enthusiastic reply.

"First, I'd make weed legal," Claire proposed, "and then you'd force me to make Krav Maga a mandatory practice in schools."

"The world would truly have been better with us at the head of state," Alice replied as they bumped knuckles.

"Until you'd backstab me for presidency," Claire thickened the plot with an often used and abused turn of events.

Alice nodded in agreement as if it was the only direction this story could go. "Right and then I'd ban all redheads from holding powerful positions," she added conspiratorially.

Claire opened her mouth in mock-offense. "You'd be an evil president," she whispered like it was a taboo rumor.

The doctor brushed off the invisible dust off of her shoulders and held her chin up high as she said: "Alice, president of the United States. Your very own 'president evil'."

Claire burst out laughing and lightly pushed Alice's shoulder, "Okay that's cheesy."

Alice just remarked they were nearing a tent as she hadn't really been paying too much attention to where they were going; following Claire's lead without a second thought. "What's cheesy is you escorting me to my quarters, madam president," Alice husked and with a teasing smirk.

"No doc," Claire stopped in front of the tent and slowly backed up Alice into it by advancing towards her like a predator chasing its prey. She placed her hand on the woman's chest and pushed her inside fully, "I escorted you to mine."

"Oh," Alice breathed and wondered if her increased heartbeat had anything to do with the way green eyes practically devoured her.

It absolutely did.


	8. I'll Be Your Reason

**A/N: Smut incoming, if you're not comfortable with that just skip past the first bit here. Thank you again for your continued interest in this story, I can't wait for you guys to read the rest.**

* * *

Claire unhooked Alice's blade holster and let it fall at their feet; the blades clunked together as they hit the wooden boards that made up the tent's homemade floor. With a smirk, she hooked her finger inside the front of Alice's jeans and pulled the woman's body into hers.

"Shouldn't we...talk first?" Alice's breath hitched as Claire's bare hands made their way under her shirt, her fingers grazed her hips as she pulled Alice's t-shirt over her head and discarded it on the ground.

"What's there to talk about?" Claire asked teasingly as she licked and sucked her way from Alice's jawline down to the edge of her collarbone while she cautiously backed her up towards the small bed. Claire pulled back and quickly removed her boots and the holster around her shoulder.

Alice let Claire gently guide her into a laying position on the bed, which creaked loudly once the redhead's weight settled on top of her. Fingers slipped between hers and her arms were lifted until they were pinned above her head. Alice succumbed to the throbbing need that built up in her lower abdomen as her hips rolled upwards demanding friction and ultimately, release.

Claire obediently acquiesced Alice's demands and ground her hips downward in the same motion; she rolled them from side to side with achingly slow movements that earned her a loud and drawn out moan from the doctor.

Alice heard Claire's throaty laugh before warm lips latched onto her neck and sharp teeth dug into her skin. Claire lifted her head halfway up and their nose grazed together just as their lips were about to make contact. Their breath mixed together and Alice was completely intoxicated with the redhead, yet she needed an answer; wanted clarification.

"What are we doing?" was asked just above a whisper, a plea, spoken against Claire's lips.

Not exactly the right choice of words, though Claire understood perfectly. "This world has made a lot of things obsolete," it took all of her willpower not to kiss Alice when her lips brushed hers with every whispered syllable, "technology, media, our pipe dreams of a white picket fence happy ending." Claire pulled back slightly and gazed down into gleaming cobalt eyes and for once she wished she could read minds. "I like you. I like you a lot Alice, and as much as that feeling scares me - we need it. Our hope is measured by our feelings for one another, if we don't let ourselves feel then we have nothing. We have no hope and we have no reason to fight. I'm not asking you to build me a house and give me a few kids."

Claire paused for a moment, lost for words by the softness of Alice's smile. "I'm asking you to give me a reason to fight." Though Claire was sure Alice had given her that reason the moment she had met her.

She wanted to say 'Yes', she also wanted to add 'I'll fight for you and with you until the end'. Instead, Alice gripped the bill of Claire's cap and chucked it somewhere, releasing the red hair from underneath it, and crashed their mouths together in a messy kiss that conveyed what she couldn't voice.

Alice rested her palm against Claire's jaw, her fingers curled behind her neck to make it clear she didn't want her going anywhere. Alice then parted her lips and slid her tongue inside Claire's welcoming mouth while her other hand wriggled itself between their bodies and went to work on the woman's jeans.

Once her fingers had successfully unbuttoned and unzipped the offending item of clothing, Alice let the tips of her fingers burn path downwards until they came into contact with the aftermath of Claire's arousal. Smirking against her lips, she slid her fingers past the folds of Claire's core and moved them in slow, rhythmic thrusts.

Claire groaned inside her mouth and Alice was happy to hear she had been finally able to get a sound out of that woman. Claire's hips bucked against her hand while Alice sucked her tongue into her mouth and rubbed her thumb along the sensitive skin of her clit.

Alice grinned when Claire groaned.

Claire pulled back from the kiss, her mouth hung open but no sound came out. She then placed one of her hands in the middle of Alice's chest, her palm pushed down onto the woman's skin to hold herself up as she moved her hips harder against Alice's fingers. She could feel it already, the pleasure rolling off her in waves that soon threatened to send her over the edge.

Alice intently watched as Claire rode her fingers and when their eyes met Alice understood that even though she was the one giving Claire pleasure, she wasn't the one in control (and she was perfectly okay with that).

When Claire pushed against her, Alice pushed that much harder. She moved her hand around Claire's hips and squeezed her ass to push her down harder against her fingers with each thrust; the bed creaked louder than then groans Claire was letting out.

Claire's back arched suddenly, a sharp exhale left her mouth as her orgasm rolled through her and left her whole body buzzing with unmeasured pleasure. She leaned on her forearm and then relaxed onto Alice's body. She shifted her head down into the pillow next to Alice's head, just above her shoulder, and a chuckle soon turned into a full-blown laugh attack. Claire didn't know exactly where it came from, but it seemed like laughter was the only thing that could convey her emotions.

Alice wasn't at all unfamiliar with this reaction; she had seen patients thrown into fits of laughter from bad diagnostics. Some people cried when they were happy, some cried when they hurt, while others simply laughed. So, she joined her, perhaps because she too usually reacted this way to strong emotions.

"Fuck, Alice," Claire breathed, but it hardly clarified anything. She laughed again and lifted her head with a grin stretched out on her lips.

"That good huh?" Alice wiggled her eyebrows.

"Guess so," Claire had shrugged off teasingly.

"Jerk," Alice chuckled before she craned her head upwards and captured Claire's lips with her own.

"This jerk," Claire spoke against her lips before she broke the kiss and trailed her lips down Alice's neck, between her breasts and all the way down her stomach until she reached the seam of her jeans, "is about to rock your world."

"Yeah, well, more rocking less talking," Alice teased with a wink as she sat up and leaned back on one elbow. She threaded her fingers through fiery red hair and gazed into dark eyes - the candle light made it impossible to distinguish their color. Alice sounded more confident than she felt because the lustful gaze glare sent her way was enough to make her forget her own name.

Claire hadn't replied, she simply rose an eyebrow at her; silently agreeing to the challenge sent her way. She pulled down Alice's jeans and panties together while the doctor helped her making this task quicker by raising her hips from the bed.

When the clothing and her boots were off and thrown with the rest, Claire grabbed both of Alice's slender legs a moved them either side of her shoulders. When she wrapped her lips around pink flesh she found that Alice was not so shy about voicing her pleasure.

"Fuck, Claire."

So the Doc's a vocal type, huh? Claire thought as she explored her warm center with her tongue; she licked her way up and down wet lips, sucked Alice's clit into her mouth and teased her entrance relentlessly. Fingers tangled themselves in her hair, making a damn mess, but she paid no attention to the knots Alice pulled on.

Claire slid her hands from the top of Alice's thighs to her backside, her fingers dug into the soft flesh as she pulled Alice flush against her mouth. Her nose was pressed into Alice's clit and she could barely breathe, but the constant moans coming from the blonde more than made up for it.

Claire was relentless in her assault, and when she felt Alice was close she stopped for a few seconds and then adopted a treacherously slow rhythm to gradually build up her pleasure again.

Alice was a squirming mess when she reached her climax, her fingers dug into Claire's scalp as she twisted her hips sideways and trapped her head between her thighs. Her entire body tensed as the pleasure caused her muscle to involuntarily clench.

The orgasm left her limbs feeling like useless jello - her brain too, it seemed. When she felt her legs being moved, she remembered Claire's head was still between them and for a second she thought she had hurt her. When she looked down, however, she watched as Claire swung her head backward to move her hair out of her face and noticed the smugness that radiated off of her smile.

Alice let herself fall back against the bed as Claire slowly crawled on top of her, the tips of her hair tickled her stomach and chest and a few seconds later, Claire's face hovered just above hers.

"So?"

"World rocked," she stopped Claire from kissing her, and wiped away...herself off the redhead's mouth and chin before she let their lips touch. It wasn't something Alice did out of disgust, she just never liked leaving a mess anywhere - not even Claire's face.

Claire laughed into her mouth and mumbled: "clean freak." After they let their tongues get to know each other better for what seemed like an eternity, Claire moved away from Alice and sat up. She stripped the remainder of her clothes as she felt extremely uncomfortable in them (not to mention her underwear were a mess).

Alice watched the redhead undress silently and thought that perhaps she had worn out her welcome. It's not like they had talked about sleeping arrangements and she wouldn't be comfortable staying here if Claire didn't want her to.

"I should go," Alice made a move to stand up, as she sat on the edge of the bed, but a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked up to meet Claire's soft eyes that held a look of understanding. How does she do that? Looks right through me like my thoughts are scribbled on my forehead?

"You can stay," Claire nodded as she picked up her dirty clothes, rolled them into a ball and threw them in the designated laundry basket like she was shooting a three-point ball from half-court.

Alice frowned, and shook her head, "I wouldn't want them to think-"

"To think what? That having a lover somehow makes me less of a leader?"

Alice wasn't concerned about whether they would approve or not, because truthfully she didn't care, but she didn't want to risk hurting Claire's leadership. These people practically worshiped her, and this camp's strength was their unity - she wouldn't and couldn't destroy that. "People talk, Claire, and it's not all sunshine and rainbows."

Claire crouched down in front of Alice and took her hand in hers, "I talked to them tonight - they won't be a problem." She couldn't say she didn't share Alice's concern, though Claire was certain she could handle the survivor's scrutiny, she hoped Alice could as well.

Although it reassured Alice, she wasn't naive enough to believe that they wouldn't face some opposition. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday. Though she trusted Claire, so Alice relented and made herself comfortable under the covers. She didn't know how much more comfortable they could really get on this twin bed, however.

"Scoot," Claire blew out the candles, casting the tent in complete darkness before she joined Alice covers and settled back against her body. Alice's breath caressed her shoulder just before soft lips kissed the same spot. Claire couldn't remember the last time she had felt at peace, like all of the responsibilities that weighed her down now felt blissfully light as if they weren't even there.

"Good night," Alice mumbled against the redhead's skin and chuckled lightly when she received a grunt in response. Alice wrapped one arm around Claire's stomach and their fingers automatically intertwined while she sneaked her other arm under their pillow, her hand hung nonchalantly from the edge of the bed. It was highly uncomfortable, the bed was way too small and the shoulder she was on was already hurting, yet having Claire in her arms made the pain worth it.

That night, sleep swiftly claimed them.

* * *

Claire was having breakfast with K-mart, Jill, and Kratos was standing next to K-mart as he patiently waited for her to drop something so he could happily make it disappear inside his stomach.

Claire moved her tent to glance at her tent for the hundredth time, nervously wondering when Alice would come out. She figured the doctor was either sleeping or was completely re-organizing the configuration of her tent, which really wouldn't surprise her at all. Though, she wished she'd just get up so they could get this over with. Most of Arcadia was having breakfast right now and her tent was conveniently placed in their line of sight.

Claire turned back to her food and placed a slice of tomato on her bread before she bit into it. When she looked up all eyes were on her and she knew then that when she'd turn around, and look at her tent, that she'd see that a certain blonde had finally come out of her hibernation.

Reluctantly, Claire did exactly that and saw that her suspicions were indeed correct. She watched Alice wave at her as she made her way towards their table, a relaxed smile lighting up her face.

Claire reciprocated the silent greeting and when let her arm fall back down onto the table she unknowingly hit her plate and her food toppled, quite dramatically, into her lap. "Fucking fuck!"

When Alice made it to the table, she rose an eyebrow at Claire's reddened face and angry eyes. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," she grunted in response as she stood up and attempted to wipe the mess off her herself.

Jill's gaze rapidly jumped between both women and instantly sensed that something had changed between them. It didn't take a genius to figure out why Alice had slept in Claire's tent, and it seemed everyone around them had come to the same conclusion.

"You know, fucking usually dissolves sexual tension between two people…" she looked them over silently and scoffed before she continued: "but with you two it made it worse." Jill stood up and threw her empty plate in one of the garbages near their table, "un-fucking-believable," she cursed and left.

Alice watched the ex-officer leave with puzzled eyes, "What's with her?"

Claire sighed, the conversation she had with her friend this morning hadn't ended very well. "She's angry at Chris for leaving - she's angry at me for letting him leave."

"And how are you doing?" Alice asked as she moved closer to Claire and subtly rubbed her fingers along the woman's wrist.

Although thankful for the comforting gesture, Claire cursed the effect the doctor had on her when a shiver ran through her body at the simple contact. "I'm okay. She'll get over it," Claire said as she watched Jill walk into someone, furiously yelled at them and disappeared behind the command station's wooden door. "Soon," she added with slight worry.

Alice nodded as Kratos greeted her by licking the tips of her fingers. She knelt down and kissed the top of his head as he jumped onto her chest, keeping his balance on his hind legs while he licked her face. "Alright, alright, I'm all loved out for today," Alice pushed him away gently and he obediently took a seat in front of her.

K-mart chuckled and rose a teasing eyebrow at Claire, "all loved out, huh?"

"Don't you start," Claire warned the teen, who giggled at the guilt clearly imprinted on the redhead's face - much like her rising blush.

Alice stood up and decided she'd let Claire deal with the teen's inquisition because she wasn't going to pretend she knew what to do or say in this situation, "John's waiting for me."

"Wait, you're not eating?" K-mart asked with a small frown.

"I'll grab something later," Alice shrugged off her concern and saluted them both goodbye before she left towards the clinic, Kratos happily followed behind her.

Claire's eyes happily pursued Alice's form until a voice broke her out of her R-rated thoughts.

"Claire?" K-mart spoke her name with a teasing tone.

"Yeah K?" Claire said, distracted, but nonetheless reluctantly ripped her eyes away from Alice's backside to glance at the teenager, who for some reason really wanted to make her life a living hell today.

"You've got tomatoes all over your crotch," the teen giggled as she bit into her sandwich.

"Fuck's sake!" Of course this would happen the only day she decided to wear pale BDU's. Claire found solace in the fact that most of Arcadia's population had seen her dispose of the undead with pin-point accuracy or they'd probably think she was a clumsy fool. Nope, they probably thought she was a distracted fool.

Great, Claire sighed and felt melancholic about the wasted breakfast when her stomach growled loudly at her. She then looked up at a still giggling K-mart, "You're grounded."

K-mart opened her mouth in shock and stood up sharply, "am not!" She retaliated and held her chin up defiantly.

Claire rolled her eyes and sighed, who was she kidding? She didn't have the heart to really make good on that threat. "Ugh, fine, but you're helping me fix the Lorry's differential today."

K-mart wanted to say something else, but she let it go. "Fine!"

Claire would have loved for K-mart to have really taken up a real interest in mechanic work like she did, though the teen was really good when she did decide to take part in Claire's daily tinkering (she did learn from the best after all). She knew it wasn't something the teen truly enjoyed, still Claire had hope for her yet.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late, I was-" Alice stopped in her tracks when she noticed a dark-colored woman was already looking over John's amputated hand. "With Claire," she finished lamely.

"Hey, Doc! Glad to see you're back," John greeted cheerfully.

"Thanks, John," she frowned her and her mouth moved, but no sound came out. "Who?"

"Hayley didn't tell you?"

Seriously? I was gone for two days. "No, no she didn't," Alice said a little sternly.

"I'm Betty, it's nice to meet you Doctor Abernathy."

She watched as the woman walked towards her and offered her a gloved hand, but the doctor was far too busy assessing her to take it. She was slightly shorter than herself, her face was soft but her eyes were sharp - she was beautiful, there was no doubt about it, but what was she doing here?

"Alice is fine," she cut her off with a tight-lipped smile.

Betty nodded, nervousness really didn't look good on her. Damn girl, get your act together . She just really wanted to make a good impression on the woman everyone spoke so highly of. "I got here yesterday, and I was a nurse, before this whole damn mess," she explained, a little more confident now that Alice's gaze softened considerably. "Haley thought you wouldn't mind the help."

"Yeah," Alice whispered and suddenly shook herself out of her thoughts as she took Betty's hand in hers firmly. "Sorry about that, I'm just used to doing everything on my own."

"No worries, I'm here to help and if you don't need me then-"

"No, no," Alice cut her off again, but this time her smile was genuine. "You got yourself a job, Betty."

The nurse grinned, "I knew you'd come around."

Alice chuckled and moved towards the stretcher John had taken a seat on. She smiled as her eyes met his, "so, how's our patient doing this morning?"

Betty joined them and patted his leg, then nodded her head at the blonde doctor.

"Doin' good." He sighed and continued when Alice gave her a look that meant 'please elaborate', "it doesn't hurt anymore. I've been practising reloading my handgun and shotgun with one hand. I think I'm ready to go back out there, Doc."

"Is that something you want to do?"

"Well, yeah," Alice had saved his life, it wasn't going to be for nothing. He would get back to his duties and keep Arcadia well-fed if it's the last thing he did.

"Have you come into contact with one of them since the accident?" Alice knew the answer already, and she could clearly see the determination in his eyes but she wasn't sure he was ready to confront his demons just yet.

John shook his head negatively.

"Perhaps we should start there then, don't you think?"

"Whatever you say Doc, I'll do it."

"This isn't my decision - it's yours. I'll help you get close to where you want to be, but only you can make that step forward. You need to be sure."

"I'm sure, I just feel like...there's something missing, you know?" He peered down at his bandaged limb and wished her could flex his fingers, and sometimes it feels like they're still there. He was a soldier, that meant getting things done. Not sitting around looking at the sun rise and fall, feeling numb and useless.

"Losing a limb is a like losing a loved one, you go through the same emotional process and I'm- we're both here," Alice corrected as she nodded at Betty, who had been watching her intently, "to help you get through this. Listen to yourself, if you think you need more time then take it."

"How do you know, when you're not sure?"

Ah-ah, the million dollar question we've all asked ourselves at least one hundred times in our lifetime. "We'll test the waters. If you're comfortable with the idea, you'll face a flesh-eater in a controlled environment," she proposed.

"Will you both be there?" The former soldier asked, hopeful and unable to meet the soft gaze he knew would be in her cobalt eyes.

"If that's what you want."

"Alright then," he nodded, determined, "I'm down."

"I'll talk to Claire about it and we'll make it happen."

Claire... Betty recognized the spoken name, Hayley had talked to her about their leader. It seemed that everyone had only good things to say about her, but she wanted to see her for herself.

"Thanks, Doc," he smiled at them both, "I owe you a lot."

"I accept credit cards or souls," Alice joked and caused both Betty and John to burst out in laughter. She performed a quick check of his limb while she explained to Betty what to look for in amputations; signs of infection, what to do in case of bad scarring and residual pain.

Once John was given a clean bill of health and left, Betty and Alice made an inventory of what supplies they had left and what they would run out of soon. Now what Alice thought about it, it was really nice having someone else around with her; someone like-minded.

Sure Kratos was great company but he couldn't exactly participate in theorizing, for example, how human cloning could become a reality - not that she would ever get behind such a practice, but it was an interesting subject to discuss nonetheless.

Around noon, Claire walked in the clinic with two sandwiches, a water bottle and a can of cherry coke (Alice's favorite sinful indulgence). She stopped in her tracks when she noticed another woman there, one which she had never seen before. She figured this was the newcomer Hayley had told her about, but she didn't think she'd find her here, with Alice no less.

"I would have brought another one if I knew we would have been more," Claire excused as she gave a smiling Alice her sandwich and Coke. She turned towards the woman and held out her hand towards her politely, "I'm Claire, I don't think we've met."

"Nah, it's all good," Betty insisted as she shook the woman's hand firmly. "I'm Betty, the doctor's new nurse," she said with a wink as she lightly bumped Alice's hips with hers.

Alice's bugged out as she smiled into her sandwich, mid-bite. She was almost scared to look at Claire's reaction, but when she did look up at her, Alice thought it was completely adorable the way redhead tried to reel in her snarl and glare. Jealous Claire was a new one, Alice smirked.

"She gives great needle, so I've heard," Alice shrugged innocently as took another bite of her sandwich, mostly to keep herself from laughing when Claire's narrowed eyes pointed towards her. She almost felt like she had to drop her food and hold her hands up in the air in surrender.

"Did...I miss somethin'?" Betty looked between both of them and her eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Oh - oh, damn," she chuckled, slightly embarrassed, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Relax, Claire, it's not like she could have known, she coaxed herself and used all of her willpower to remain polite.

"You sure? 'Cause you're doing that thing with your nose that people who are angry usually do..." she turned to Alice and attempted to replicate the facial expression, "that crinkle thing, y'know?"

That's it, Alice couldn't hold it in any longer, she burst out laughing while attempting not to choke on the semi-chewed food she still had in her mouth.

Only when Claire made a move to leave that she really began to panick. Alice placed her Coke down on the stretcher and moved forward to grab Claire's wrist, "Hey, we're just joking."

"I'll just...go," Betty nervously mumbled as she left the clinic and realized that was probably the worst first impression in history and with Arcadia's leader no less. Congradufuckinglations.

"Claire," Alice pleaded, "what's wrong?"

She turned around to face Alice, and folded her arms over her chest. "I hate that everyone is treating us different because they know about us, because we-"

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," she didn't want to be the one to say it, but Alice hated seeing Claire so uncharacteristically agitated.

"No!" Claire shouted fiercely - there was that confidence and determination Alice grew to love about her, "I'm not letting anything or anyone indirectly bully us out of...our thing," she finished with a slight stutter.

"So, we're 'a thing' now?"

Claire shrugged as she pulled the bill of her cap downwards, effectively shielding her eyes the blush on her cheeks. "What else do you want to call it?"

"'A thing' seems fine to me," Alice smiled softly. Was there really a need to label their relationship? It's not like it would eventually lead to marriage, and like Claire had said last night, the world was different - they were different.

Claire smiled despite wanting to pout as she let Alice pull her into her arms. She burrowed her nose in the crook of Alice's neck and mumbled an apology: "I'm sorry I freaked out."

Alice kissed the side of her head and moved her rested her hand in the middle of Claire's back, hugging the woman with one arm as her other hand still held the half eaten sandwich. "Jealous Claire is kinda cute," she teased.

"I don't get jealous," and because Claire knew Alice so well, she knew she'd have a witty come back and she really didn't want to hear it so she grabbed the Alice's face and brought their mouths together. It was a really effective way of shutting her up, Claire noticed, as she felt Alice's hand travel down to her ass.

The sandwich Alice had been holding had been discarded on the floor at their feet and truthfully the only consequence their relationship had was all this wasted food; first Claire's breakfast, now this. When would the horrors stop?

* * *

Hayley looked through the sight of her high-powered rifle and counted the flesh-eaters that were chasing this woman - she looked young, probably close to 18 but not much other than that.

"Three, four, five," Hayley whispered under her breath before she took her radio and replied to Jill: "Six, there are six flesh-eaters after her."

"Alright, listen up, we're going to open the gate and take them out on the ground. Weapons down," Jill commanded and clipped her radio back onto her belt. She then slid her knife out of its sheath as she stood one one side of the large door.

"Roger that ma'am," Hayley kept her scope on the girl.

"Ready?" Jill asked Claire, who also stood at the ready across from her, machete in hand.

Claire nodded as she gripped her weapon; she preferred using her handgun but they didn't want to attract more of them, and with the gate open this was their safest option. Jill made a good call, but it didn't surprise Claire - she chose her as her second in command for a good reason.

When the door opened, they waited for the girl to pass through before they started hacking away. "Go, go, go, get in!" Jill yelled at the girl as she plunged her combat knife deep into the undead Claire had pushed towards her.

This tactic was one the two friends would often use, as it was fairly effective in disposing of a small group of undead. Claire would grab one, kick it towards Jill and ultimately, into her knife. Jill would then do the same and they would take turns until all the undead were taken care of.

Their conversation about Chris this morning hadn't been pleasant, but they quickly moved past it. They're both dealing with their own emotions about him leaving and they decided it was better to deal with them separately.

"Clean-up on aisle 3," Jill joked as the last undead fell on the ground in a lifeless heap. She let out a sharp breath, her lungs and arms burned from the physical exertion. "Fuck me," She leaned forward and rested her palms onto her thighs and found it difficult to get her breath back.

"Nice," Claire approached Jill to give her a high five and noticed she was considerably less out of breath than her partner. "You okay there, skipper?"

Jill responded by giving her friend the middle finger with her trademark smirk - though she knew she probably shouldn't have been so negligent with her physical conditioning for the past few months.

Claire turned her attention to the wide-eyed stranger that had just entered their settlement, and nodded her head at Jill.

She got the message loud and clear, "Go, talk to her." Jill motioned to the mess with her hand, "I'll get people to help me clean this shit up." She could feel blood drip down her face and onto her neck as it coated her usual pale skin, her clothes had also been painted crimson from their fight. Messy business we're in, she thought with a satisfied smirk.

Claire approached the girl cautiously and thought tgat she couldn't appear too friendly with blood dripping from her, but hey, these days it was practically commonplace. "Hey, hey, look at me," she gently shook the frightened girl's shoulders and when their eyes met, she recognized her instantly. "You're from the hotel."

The girl nodded, but still couldn't find her voice.

"What's going on?" Did she run all the way here?

"There's something you need to know," the accent that came out of her mouth wasn't something Claire had expected, but it sounded like a lot like Hayley's - sort of.

"You should sit first, come with me." Claire lead her to the mess hall and asked a survivor to bring the girl water on their way there. She watched the brunette sit down and play with her short trimmed hair nervously; she didn't meet her eyes and Claire knew she was taking a big risk being here.

"Mary made a deal with the White Horseman to keep the Hotel. When he needs people, we find survivors who aren't in big groups you know? Like two or three, and we would bring them to him. But sometimes he doesn't want them, and so he takes one of us."

I fucking knew that woman was trash, "Jesus, kid." Perhaps the White Horseman was their biggest threat right now, but Claire needed to take care of Mary first. "You'll be safe here, but I'm going to take you to see our doctor first."

The girl simply nodded.

* * *

Alice joined Claire on the clinic's couch, they both overlooked Betty who was taking the new girl's information for their records. "She's dehydrated but she should be fine after a carb loaded meal, plenty of water and rest."

"Thanks," Claire nodded and shifted towards Alice. "It turns out our friend Mary is trapping people for the White Horseman."

Alice shook her head, it truly disgusted her how some people had no disregard for other's lives. "You were right about her," she said, and suddenly she really felt like cutting something up.

"I'm taking a strike team to the hotel, we need to get these people out of there."

"Agreed." Alice rose an eyebrow, was that an invitation?

Claire grinned at the look displayed in Alice's eyes, a look she knew all too well. "Coming with?" She already knew the answer.

Alice turned to Betty, who seemed to have everything under control here, their new friend would be in good hands. "I'm with you," Alice smiled as they both stood up. She motioned for Betty to come see her and the woman joined them moments later she asked: "Is it alright if I let you deal with this for a bit?"

Betty nodded confidently, smirk in place. "Sure thing Doc! Go out and do your thing, I got this."

"Great, I'll see you later Betty."

Betty saluted them and they reciprocated the gesture as they exited the clinic. Alice and Claire smirked in unison, their thoughts relatively similar as they stepped down the wooden stairs and marched towards the loaded Lorry.

The bitch had it coming.


	9. Way Down We Go

**A/N:** **I drew a little inspiration from Iron Fist in this one, and I hope you'll enjoy this update.**

* * *

Claire's team burst in the hotel guns drawn a moment before Claire entered, an untamable fire in her emerald eyes as she sought out the woman in charge. It didn't take much time for her to find Mary and the sounds quickly attracted the hotel's survivors as well; they grouped at the bottom of the staircase, weapons in hand but seeming unwilling to use any of them.

Mary smiled as she stared into Claire's angry eyes. "I see Abigail made it to Arcadia, the little rat she is." Her smile turned into a snarl rather quickly.

"She did, and she told me what you were doing with these people. We're here to take them somewhere safe." _Dare to stop me, I'll put one right between your eyes._

Mary remained calm, much to Claire's annoyance, and rose a challenging brow at her, "and what exactly do you think I've been doing all these years?"

"Making people do your dirty work when the threat of death hangs over their head every day isn't offering them safety!" She was way past furious now, you could put a cigarette against her temple and it would probably light up instantly.

"I have provided everyone here with a bed, food and a chance to survive."

"Bullshit!" Claire took a step forward, their bodies inches apart. "They're humans, not cattle up for slaughter!" She growled as she stared the woman down like a hungry lion - fiery mane and everything.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with, you're in way over your head," Mary tsked as if scolding a child.

Claire snarled but took a step back, it wouldn't do anyone good if she knocked the bitch out even if she wanted to wipe that damn smirk off her face. She took a deep breath and turned to the Hotel's survivors, who had all been watching her intently.

Her voice was soft for their sake: "We're here to offer you a safe haven, a real home. We're not going to force anyone to come with us and if you wish to go your own way you're completely free to do so, but before you make a decision let our doctor examine you. We'll give you food and water to take with you."

Claire stared into their hopeful eyes and saw the hurt and mistrust Mary had created and she wanted nothing more than to mend that, "take the time you need to pack your things, we'll be waiting outside by our trucks." She smiled when most of them scattered up the stairs to their rooms.

Mary moved directly in front of Claire as she was about to leave, the redhead cocked her head and snarled at the elderly woman, "what?"

Mary didn't say a word, however, she simply moved out of Claire's way with a smile and chuckled when the woman bumped into her on her way outside. "You just went and dug your own grave, Claire Redfield," she whispered sardonically.

The humid air did nothing to calm her, but Claire knew one thing that did. She met Alice behind one of the Lorry's, the doctor was unpacking a small medical kit while Jill was signaling the second Lorry's driver who was slowly backing up closer to the Hotel's glass doors.

"Bring it in Tommy, don't be shy come on! Back that ass up!" Jill glanced over her shoulder and brought her hand up, "that's good!" She joined Claire and Alice and probably interrupted their eye-fucking but it made everyone nauseous so really she did everyone a huge favor.

"Doc," Jill nodded at her and turned to her friend. "Thought you'd come out of there with her body trailing behind you."

"You give me too much credit," Claire chuckled and Alice rose a brow at her.

"Did you decide what we're going to do with her?"

"Nothing," Claire hopped up into the Lorry's cargo and started moving their ammunition crates towards the back so the survivors would have a place to sit. "Leaving her alone is worse than killing her."

Jill joined their leader and helped her move the larger crates to the very back, _damn that's fucking heavy._ "You sure that's wise, though? If she's playing house with Doctor Frankenstein then she'll run to him."

"Exactly," Claire moved towards the edge of the cargo, and Alice had gallantly offered her hand. Claire took it without hesitation as she jumped down.

Alice smiled softly at her, "let him attack us first, see how they fight - Smart."

 _Disgusting. Did you see that? She freaking took her hand. What kind of earth shattering sex are they fucking having? Fuck._ Jill rolled her eyes when Alice offered her hand as well, which she took because, a) she was curious to see what her hands felt like and b) she thinks chivalry should be more prominent nowadays.

Jill gave Alice a half-assed curtsey once her feet touched the ground and the doctor replied by tipping an invisible hat at her. _Okay, I get it Red, she's charming as fuck._ Jill turned to Claire with a smirk on her lips, "that's our girl, balls the size of Mount Everest."

Claire laughed and shook her head, "like I said, you give me too much credit."

"Don't sell yourself short, Red, _you_ did all of this. All of these people, Arcadia, they're safe because of you."

"I thought our friendship was based on insults, why would you break my trust and compliment me like that?" Claire deflected with a joke, but in truth, she was truly proud of what she had accomplished - what they all accomplished together.

Alice laughed and moved her gaze away from the two friends to the survivors who seemed to eye her cautiously. "Right here," she waved at them, "my name is Alice, I'm Arcadia's physician. I'll be examining you to make sure you're all alright. Make a line right here," she demonstrated with her hand, "and I'll make it as quick as possible," she finished with a brilliant smile. _Works every time,_ she thought as they obeyed her command with a little less reluctance.

Claire watched Alice make the scared survivors feel at ease, cracking jokes and soon their hearts too; she recognized that look in their eyes, they were falling for her already.

When their eyes met, Claire couldn't help but feel like she had been a lucky winner in the apocalypse lottery and when the doctor sent a wink her way Claire was positive that she had never been happier.

She heard Jill gag and when she turned towards her friend with a frown, the woman was simply pretending to throw up; she had definitely seen their interaction. Claire rolled her eyes and pushed her friend's shoulder roughly, "stop dicking around and give me a hand with their luggage."

Jill stood at attention and saluted Claire like they've been trained to do so many years ago, "sir, yes, sir!"

 _Asshole,_ Claire thought with a smile.

* * *

Claire chugged some water as she took her eyes off of the prison's outside walls for a moment before she rested her cheek against her TRG's stock. She had found a nice spot on the second floor of a semi-demolished building. Claire then set up some tarps to completely close off one the left corner of the building that hadn't been completely destroyed and used it as her very own sniper camp. She would have used a tent but Arcadia was well over capacity and they needed all the tents they had.

She had a chair set up by the only window that was still standing, water and food stacked in one of the corners and a sleeping bag rolled up beside an oil lamp. It wasn't luxury, but it was what it was. During her time in the military as a marksman, she had to camp a spot for 72 hours without rest or a shift change. Now I don't need to explain that the conditions were less than optimal, and sometimes literally shitty so really this was actually pretty nice in retrospect.

Claire had also installed some homemade traps around the building, but somehow Alice had been able to sneak past them all and give her a damn heart attack the first day she had slept there. Claire was on her third day scouting the prison and truthfully she hadn't seen much action and she was thankful for Alice's pleasant nightly visits. She had even left Kratos with her explaining to Claire that he was really great company.

The dog would lay beside her as she'd watch the prison, they would take turns eating chips and other things Alice would probably get angry at Claire for feeding her Doberman. Animal treats were hard to find and he was already living off the meat they had in Arcadia, what could a potato chip really do?

Claire frowned as she noticed the chip in front of her had suddenly vanished. She moved her gaze from the rifle's scope and narrowed her eyes at Kratos, who cocked his head at her, big brown eyes wide and innocent. "Stealing my chips like your master steals hearts, so unfair."

She thought Kratos seemed puzzled by her reply and wondered if he was being scolded or not (he chose the latter).

"Red, you awake?" Her earpiece buzzed to life.

A smile graced her lips, "been awake before you were born, what's your point?"

"Ah-ah, the lone wolf life's really degrading your humor."

"Pissing in a bowl will do that to someone," Claire remarked.

"If you're quite done crying about your piss bowl, I just wanted to inform you, sir, that Alice and I are close by."

"Doing...?"

"Each other, what else?" Jill replied like it was the most natural thing to say.

Claire chuckled as she happily munched on a chip, then threw one at Kratos. She winked at him as she moved her scope towards one of the streets to her left, then the one over, and then the one further down where she spotted one of their Lorry's by the side of the road. Quietly, she surveyed the stores and saw some movement in one of the desolate building. Her scope moved over the store's banner but it had been completely destroyed and thus rendered illegible.

Claire then spotted her friend's familiar face, who was holding a piece of clothing up for her in the store's dirty window. Claire laughed when she saw what it was, "assless chaps - quality stuff, Jill."

"Alice thinks so too," Jill continued the good-natured teasing.

She saw Alice pop her head behind Jill, she could clearly saw the eye-roll all the way from here. "Don't listen to her, she dragged me into this...adult store and threw a plastic dick at me. I'm scarred for life."

"You cut it in half, I'm the one who should be scarred!"

Claire snorted and rolled her eyes, "play nice kids, and maybe focus on actually scavenging _useful_ things."

"Yes mom," Jill replied in a childish tone.

"So, how's the prison looking?" Alice asked as she pulled Jill out of the store and dragged her towards what used to be a convenience store.

"Deserted, mostly. I saw some people pull up in a vehicle last night. Jade made her round - thanks for planting that wire on her by the way."

"My pleasure," Jill replied with a grin.

 _Yeah, not gonna ask._ She heard some mumbling before Alice's voice came through.

"When you said useful things, did you mean a pack of cigarettes?"

"You better not be fucking around with me," the woman growled; she had been itching for a nicotine since the last time she had one: a fucking _month_ ago.

"Dead serious," Alice's joke was received poorly by Jill, who snorted at her choice of words then rose a brow at her as if asking 'really?'. Alice shrugged as she slipped the pack of Marlboro into one of the tactical vests' pouches.

"I fucking love you," Claire breathed before her brain could actually make her realize what she had just said - though she didn't feel like she needed to take it back at all.

"You can show me tonight," Alice proposed in a lowered voice though it was perceived as a demand by the woman it was directed to.

Claire grimaced at the loud shuffling she heard in her ear, "what the hell happened?"

Alice chuckled, "Jill took out her earpiece."

Claire shook her head and turned her scope back onto the prison. She saw a man, dressed in the barbaric clothes and armor that resembled what their kidnappers had on.

She turned one of the scope's wheel to zoom in on him: his horse was painted red, probably with some good old cornstarch and coloring, Claire figured. He seemed tall, at least from this distance, and his hair was blond and slicked back onto his head. Claire followed him until he disappeared behind one of the side doors.

"Claire, are you still there?"

"Yeah, this douchebag was riding around on a red horse before he went into the prison."

"Red you say?"

Claire mumbled a distracted 'mhm' as she moved her sight to every barred window to attempt to see if she could spot him moving around inside.

"The Red Horseman," Alice guessed correctly, "they're really taking this metaphor seriously."

Claire sighed as she moved her scope back to Alice who leaned against the building they had just scavenged. The blonde lit up a smoke, unaware of the threat that lurked behind her.

Quickly, Claire moved her scope in a few inches above the undead's head and pulled the trigger, she pushed her shoulder forward and expertly absorbed the riffle's violent kickback.

She watched its head explode and spray Alice with crimson liquid, who clumsily dropped the cigarette on the floor as she jumped back in shock from the loud noise.

"Jesus Claire, maybe warn me next time?" Alice growled as she picked up the cigarette and angrily wiped away the dirt off of it before she plopped it back into her mouth.

"Sorry," Claire apologized as she pulled on the bolt-action lever to release the empty cartridge out of the chamber; she always loved the satisfying sound it made as it hit the ground.

"Uh, and," Alice swallowed as she awkwardly fumbled with her words, still shook, "thanks...for that." Though the loud ringing in her ear had slowly subsided. One more reason to hate automatic weapons, she thought, they were unnecessarily loud - though she would take a headache over being bitten anytime.

"No problem sweetheart," Claire said softly, and smiled when she heard Jill say to Alice 'why the hell are you smiling like that? We're done here, move that ass'.

Claire felt Kratos' wet nose nudge her forearm and when she turned to him she asked: "what, don't tell me you're scared of my rifle too?" When he cuddled closer to her she laughed.

Claire watched the packed Lorry pull away so she moved her rifle back onto the prison and was so completely not ecstatic about the long and boring day that awaited her.

* * *

When Alice woke up she gently untangled herself from the redhead that was sleeping half on top of her and quietly slipped out of bed. Instead of dressing in her usual clothes, the doctor rummaged through her personal belongings - which had almost all been transferred in Claire's tent. She slipped on a sleeveless black shirt and a pair of dark jogging pants; both items loosely fitted around her body.

Quite a few things have happened since her arrival in Arcadia and Alice had nearly no time to herself to take a step back and reflect; in fact, she had completely lost touch with her emotions which could become dangerous, especially in battle.

Alice had traveled to Northern China and lived there for three months during her school semester has a med student. Though it seemed like a lifetime away, she had not forgotten all that she had learned during her time there.

Being a young student ripe for learning, Alice devoured everything she could about medicine and took interest in the Chinese alternative methods of healing. She had settled in the culture easily and learned enough of Mandarin to get around without a guide.

One day, her ventures in Chen Jia Gou village brought her to the well-known Chen Xiao Xing's school of Tai Chi. She fell in love with the sport instantly but found it difficult to accommodate to the slow movements when she was used to Krav Maga's quick and vicious strikes.

The young doctor to be's patience was greatly tested and she was often brought to her limits, but in the end, Alice found Tai Chi taught her essential skills to remain calm and helped her completely push down her anxiety. It taught her to fight with a calm mind and logic as opposed to simply relying on instincts which were often linked to emotions.

Though, since coming to Arcadia she hadn't practiced at all. Everything happened so fast, the survivors came to the clinic for advice sometimes medical and sometimes personal - she was a doctor in every sense of the word. She then took a special interest in Claire, romantic from the start. Having placed all her effort into taking care of others had quickly drained all of her of her energy, both physical and mental.

Alice hadn't dealt with whatever emotions their kidnapping had brought on and even though Claire's confident presence eased her mind, her anxiety would resurface at the worst possible times; she needed to let go of her emotions before they got the better of her. Her Tai Chi sensei had explained how someone's Chi became dark and heavy when grief and anger weren't dealt with quickly.

If he had been here with her, Alice imagined how he would have narrowed his eyes at her, scolding, and she could almost hear him say 'darkness dwells within you, why do you let it?' and she would reply, with a really bad American accent, 'there is darkness in us all, sensei'.

Alice took in a deep, calming breath as moved her legs apart and bent down onto her knees slightly. She then lifted both of her arms in front of her and moved them together in perfect unison as she crouched lower to the ground and rested all her her weight on her right leg as she extended her left leg out.

All her movements were deliberate and she closed her eyes as muscle memory took over. She slowed down her breathing to where most people would probably fall asleep, but with her training, it gave Alice the focus she needed to clear her thought-heavy mind; she was finally alone.

She could feel all the aches in her body as she moved, she knew her right knee hurt from a year back when it came out of its socket and never really got better. Her shoulder hurt from the shit quality of the mattress she slept on and her back burned, though that problem wasn't musculoskeletal in nature. _That's all Claire's fault,_ Alice thought with a content smile.

Claire slowly opened her eyes, disappointed Alice wasn't there with her. Even if she knew spending a slow morning doing nothing but stay in bed was a luxury they couldn't afford, she loved waking up with Alice's fingers playing in her hair or tracing patterns on her back. She was happy to be back in her tent after four days of scouting that told them absolutely shit all about their enemies.

She sat up in bed, and as she started making sense of the mess of hair that was on her head, her eyes caught something. She wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed Alice in the far corner of the tent doing...something. Alice had her back to her, but she could hear the deep and even breaths coming from her.

Quietly, Claire stood up from the bed, mirth danced in her eyes and she snuck up on the blonde - or so she thought.

"Good morning," Alice spoke softly but continued her movements.

With a pout, Claire pressed her naked body against Alice's back and slipped both of her hands around her waist as she let them roam over the dark cotton shirt.

Alice grabbed Claire's hands and she moved them to follow her movements.

Claire chuckled as she pressed her nose into Alice's neck and left a soft kiss on the skin below, "didn't know you were a kung fu master."

"Kung Fu is practiced by Shaolin Monks. What I'm doing - what we're doing," Alice smiled as she pulled Claire's hands with her own, "is Tai Chi."

Claire smiled and went along with it, letting Alice guide her gently. "When did you learn this?" she asked with peaked interest.

"I went to China to learn about alternative medicine, I stayed there for three months."

Claire chuckled softly, "you're just full of surprises aren't you?"

"You don't know the half of it," Alice teased. She stopped her movements, brought her body in an upright position then lifted both of her hands together in front of her chest, along with Claire's. She kissed the woman's hand before she turned around, the corner of her lips twitching upwards when her eyes took in Claire's naked body.

Claire stared into cobalt eyes and she was used to Alice's calmness, but she seemed better this morning; she seemed well. "Is that why you're always so calm?"

"Maybe," she shrugged with a teasing wink as she wrapped both of her arms around Claire's taught waist.

"When you first got here, the night you save K-mart," Claire's words died in her mouth when Alice slowly ran her thumb over her healed scar - she had almost forgotten that it was there. "I-I never saw someone move like you do," she spoke softly, remembering how Alice had taken them out with ease.

Alice knew where this was going.

"Teach me?" Claire asked, hopeful. She had mastered the military style of combat pretty well, but it always felt like she lacked something and she figured Alice could teach her what that thing was.

Alice smiled as she kissed the side of Claire's head, "put on some clothes first," she said before taking a step back from her.

"Why? Afraid you'll be distracted?" Claire bit her lip teasingly and as she sneaked her hands under Alice's shirt and backed her up into the worn dresser.

Alice didn't bother lying, "yes."

Claire wanted to tease her until she relented, but she was serious about learning how to fight better so, reluctantly, she backed away and dressed as requested. She slipped on her usual gym attire: fitted jogging pants that showed off the muscles in her legs and her a gray t-shirt that had the word 'Army' written on it in big, bold lettering.

Alice decided that having her naked was probably less distracting, but she took training very seriously and if Claire wanted to learn then she would teach her to the best of her ability. She sat down, cross-legged and slowly deposited her hands onto her thighs as she motioned for Claire to do the same.

Although a little reluctant, Claire mirrored Alice's position, with some difficulty in the mobility department. She stared the woman who had closed her eyes - though there was an easy smile on her lips. After a moment of silence, Claire sighed, already feeling restless "what are we doing?"

"Focusing our energy, clearing our minds."

"And how do you do that exactly?"

Alice opened one eye as she sensed her partner's frustration, "you'll know." she said vaguely and closed her eye once more. She blindly reached out to grab Claire's hands and held them, "close your eyes," she commanded softly as she felt Claire's gaze on her.

After a few minutes, she heard Claire's breathing even so she let her hands go - she needed to learn to focus on her own. When Alice opened her eyes a few minutes later, with a tranquil mind, she instantly noticed the tension in Claire's shoulder as dissipated. Even though her position was sloppy and slouched because she wasn't keeping her core tight it was a good start, she thought, happy to see Claire had felt the benefits of this quick meditation

"Alright," Alice stood up and brought her fist against her palm as she bowed at the woman in front of her. She hadn't spared with Claire yet and she needed to do so in order to assess what needed correction. "Come at me," she wasn't surprised when she was met with an uncertain stare. "Don't think about it, just attack me."

Alice easily dodged the punch aimed at her face, she used her right arm to block the blow while she sidestepped and held on to Claire's wrist with her left arm. "Your strength comes from your anger and it works, most of the time," she dodged another hit and flipped Claire onto her back with ease. "Force needs to come within," she demonstrated by placing a finger on Claire's stomach.

Claire growled as she kicked herself up onto her feet and blindly charged Alice with her shoulder. Seconds later, her back came in contact with the wood underneath her feet once more as Alice had swiftly kicked her feet from underneath her and controlled her fall with a hand pressed to her sternum.

"Fuck!" Claire yelled and stood up again, her nostrils flared in frustration. _Why can't I touch her?_ She shifted her weight and sent a heavy combination of a high elbow, low knee and right hook that was blocked by the doctor.

"Don't think about what you're doing, watch what your opponent is doing and retaliate." Alice could clearly see what the problem was: she relied on brute force to take her down in one hit, but it left her completely open if her opponent blocked. She let her anger rule her and she had no defense, not to mention her mobility was lacking.

Alice stopped the sparring session because she had seen enough to know what to do with her. She watched as Claire snuffed out her anger, her hands clenched at her sides and her chest heaving - there was a feral look in her eyes as her pupils had been fully dilated.

Claire ran a shaky hand through her hair, "I'm sorry, Alice, I-"

"Don't be, we all learn from failure. Every time you feel angry, find somewhere quiet to meditate. It'll help you act less on impulsion and teach you to rely on what you know instead." When Claire nodded in agreement she continued: "Meditate for a bit and I'll show you a few things."

When she closed her eyes, Claire wasn't sure where all her anger was coming from, but she could feel she had a lot of it bottled inside. Perhaps this would be good for her. After ten silent and peaceful minutes passed, the redhead opened her eyes and stood up, ready for more.

Alice taught her a few techniques that required disarming an opponent and taking them down. Every time she ended up on the floor Claire replayed the sequence in her mind to figure out what she did wrong. Once she corrected something, another error was brought to her attention, and after a few dozen failed attempts hearing Alice coaxing her to go faster each time, she finally understood what she needed to do.

Claire watched the empty gun lifted towards her and she stepped forward, using the momentum she created to twist the weapon out of Alice's hand and then pulled the hammer out as well as mag in the same movement and finally she kicked Alice's feet from underneath her to land on top of the woman moments later.

She threw her hands up in victory and laughed heartily, "how was that?" she asked, breathless.

"Good, you're a fast learner," Alice replied as she sat up and leaned back onto her hands, enjoying the view of Claire comfortably sitting in her lap; her hair wild just like her gleaming emerald eyes.

Claire moved both of her hands onto Alice's upper chest to balance herself as she craned her head down and brought their lips together in a slow and intimate kiss. She moved one of her hands around the woman's shoulders while the other gripped the back of Alice's head as she deepened the embrace.

Their tongues slid around each other in the warmth of Claire's mouth and both of them groaned at the contact.

Claire pushed her hips upwards to sit up on her knees and towered over Alice. She pulled Alice's head backward gently as she opened her mouth to swallow Alice's moans, as well as her tongue, and sucked on it eagerly.

Alice didn't know why she pulled back, but when she took a deep breath and her lungs burned from the lack of oxygen she remembered that this had to be the reason. "Does that mean you want another lesson?"

Claire nodded as she bit her lip and grabbed onto Alice's right hand to moved it between their bodies. "Right now I want another kind of lesson," she drawled out in a not-so-decent tone.

"Is this extra credits?" Alice asked as she gladly caved to Claire's unabashed demand. Sometimes she missed the quiet, but when Claire hissed loudly and groaned as her hand moved under the redhead's pants, Alice completely forgot why exactly.

* * *

K-mart desperately tried to shake away the thoughts in her head - she wanted to ask Claire about the new girl, but when she neared her tent she heard sounds she really wasn't too keen on hearing again - like ever.

Probably scarred for life, K-mart was searching for a distraction and she found said distraction sitting alone on the staircase that led to the clinic. She figured the girl had slept there last night as she overheard Claire saying the barracks were full.

"Hi, I'm K-mart," the teen greeted as she took a seat next to her, but on the step below.

The girl chuckled and arched an unbelieving eyebrow at her, "really now?"

 _Wow, that accent,_ K-mart figured out she probably had a thing for accents when she first heard Hayley speak, but this one confirmed it. "W-what's your name?"

"Abigail, but everyone calls me Abby," she couldn't help the smirk that spread on her lips. She wasn't sure if the blonde knew just how cute she looked just then, and she was going to say something, but K-mart beat her to it.

"It's nice to meet you," K-mart said, suddenly timid under Abby's stare.

Abby played with her fingers and even though she drank two water bottles, she felt like she could drain a whole damn lake. "So, what's your real name?"

K-mart shrugged and looked down at the girl's hands and noticed the faded tattoos on her fingers. Instantly she wondered what they meant, why she got them and if it hurt. "Is it really that important?"

"I guess not," the brunette agreed with a brilliant smile.

 _How are her lips so...soft-looking?_ "Everyone calls me K," K-mart lied; the only person that called her that was Claire, but she didn't mind Abby calling her that as well.

"What do you do here, K?"

"Freeload," she joked, "I help Claire with fixing stuff. Sometimes LJ lets me help him take care of the vegetables but he's always so nervous when I'm there." K-mart sighed but gave Abby a hopeful smile, "Claire says when I'm old enough she'll let me come on supply runs with them."

"How old are you?" That concept seemed so pre-outbreak, Abby didn't think anyone tried to protect children from the horrors outside anymore. Her blonde friend really had it good here, she thought sadly.

"Sixteen, you?" She asked, suddenly nervous again.

"Eighteen."

K-mart nodded and somehow that answer just made her heart beat faster. _What the heck is wrong with me?_ She thought she could probably see Alice about it today, but not right now - _ew, ew, ew, I thought about it again. Why do adults have to be so gross?_

Abby regarded K-mart with an amused smile, "you alright?"

"Yeah, I just thought about something," she waved off then quickly continued: "Claire told me the place you were at before was pretty bad, what happened?"

"We didn't have someone like her taking care of us, Mary made us work for everything. Our food, our clothes, and even the privilege to sleep in a bed."

K-mart's mouth hung open in shock, "what?"

"She forced us to hurt people and steal from them," there was shame in her words, but there was a part of her that didn't regret what she had to do to survive. Besides, she was in Arcadia now, and Abby had a feeling her luck was going to change.

"I'm so sorry Abby, I-"

"It's over now," Abby cut her off, not in the mood for more pity. Somehow, she was skeptical about her own words; It was never over with Mary. Right now, though, she didn't want to think about it. "So, you said you fix things right?"

K-mart nodded.

"What kind of things?"

K-mart's eyes lit up again, "wanna see?"

"Show me the way," Abby was taken off guard when K-mart's gloved hand slid into hers as the blonde enthusiastically pulled her up and lead her to towards large garage. She stared at their joined hands for most of the way, a frown creased her forehead as she wondered what the hell the feeling in her gut was.

 _Am I getting a cold?_

* * *

Alice observed Claire with a frown as she seemed to be intently watching something out of one of the Clinic's window. "Claire?"

"Look at them," she whispered without taking her gaze off of the two individuals.

"Look at who?" Alice asked, as she came up behind the redhead and peeked outside over Claire's shoulder.

"K-mart and the new girl," she answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Abby," Alice offered with an amused grin, she could guess what Claire was worked up about.

"Look at how close they're sitting," Claire said like she was about ready to pull out a bottle of holy water and chuck it at them.

"Claire?" Alice placed both of her hands on the woman's stiff shoulders to grasp her attention as she rubbed her hands up and down the bare shoulders soothingly.

"What?" Claire asked, a little annoyed by the doctor's scolding tone as she turned around, but stared down at her boots instead of the amused look in Alice's eyes she was almost certain would be there.

"Are you worried about K-mart having a crush?"

Claire shrugged, "I don't know anything about that girl."

"So we're in here because..."

"I want to see her file," Claire asked, as she finally met cobalt eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I can't do that, Doctor-patient confidentiality."

 _Are you fucking- relax, Redfield. Take a deep breath._ " _Seriously_ , Alice?" Even if she had calmed herself down, there were still traces of anger in her voice.

"Why don't you try talking to her," the doctor proposed something a little more logical than playing detective in the girl's personal file. Alice sighed when Claire didn't say anything and simply kept staring at her blankly, "You can protect her from a lot of things, Claire, but you can't protect her from heart breaks. We all lived through them, many times over - it's part of life and it's part of this life too."

Claire sighed as she hit her forehead against Alice's shoulder and kept her arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm sure you were the little heart breaker back then," Alice said as she attempted to lighten the mood - it didn't exactly work like she wanted it to, though.

"More like I was on the receiving end of it, a lot," Claire confessed as she pressed her nose into the crook of Alice's neck. Her shoulders deflated as she took a deep breath - she loved the doctor's subtle and calming scent.

"People actually broke up with you?" She wasn't just trying to make her feel better, Alice was actually surprised.

"Yep, every single relationship I've ever had."

Alice shook her head, "their loss." It must have been the right thing to say, she thought, as Claire's arms went around her waist and pulled her in closer. Claire cuddled in closer as Alice peeked through the window once more and watched as Abby clumsily flirted with the young blonde.

This world has taken their innocence, and Alice believed it shouldn't have to mean it had to take their hearts as well. Feelings are what reminds them that they're still human during times when they couldn't even remember if killing every day used to be normal or not.

Love would keep their hearts going, and as Claire had told her a few days ago, it's what fueled their fight. Perhaps they would have to do questionable things to keep each other alive in the future, and perhaps they already did but in the moment they justified it as logical because it kept one of their loved ones alive.

Alice closed her eyes as she felt Claire's lips graze her collarbone and thought she was prepared to do anything to keep the ones she grew to love alive and well, even if that would ultimately lead to her demise. She relaxed into Claire's body and nuzzled the side of her head.

Love was the most powerful weapon any of them had.


	10. Kiss Your Baby Goodbye

Claire took a moment to breathe as she exiled herself in her tent after a long meeting with the engineers about reconfiguring the barracks and a portion of the wall. They were well over capacity with their new arrivals and they needed to make place for bigger structures and living quarters. They would have to open the wall to make the modifications, which meant a heck of a lot of preparation, extra guard shifts, and a damn big headache for Claire since she had to coordinate it all.

She sat down on the edge of her bed and leaned forward, rubbing either side of her temple - _ugh, I wonder what's Alice doing?_ She was itching for a good massage from the doctor; Claire had recently discovered that Alice was exceptionally good at removing the knots in her back and shoulders.

Though she knew exactly what Alice was doing, when Claire passed by the Clinic this morning there were at least 10 people waiting outside to see the doctor. She then decided that she would be the one to treat her to a massage tonight.

Claire was pulled away from her pleasant thoughts when her brother's voice came through the second radio she kept on her bed-side table for that exact purpose. "Claire, are you there?"

She picked it up asked, quickly, "is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just," he sighed, "wanted to hear your voice."

Claire rolled her eyes as she let herself fall back onto the bed. "You were always the sentimental one," but she smiled nonetheless; she missed his presence here.

"How's...everything?" He asked awkwardly even though they both knew where the tension came from.

"Good," it didn't exactly some up their last few days but she didn't want to worry him. Besides, he deserved some rest. "How are you?" Claire asked just as awkwardly. _This is even more embarrassing than the time he went and asked a girl I had a crush on in high school if she liked me - when I was right beside him._

"Good," he echoed Claire's previous answer.

"Claire-"

"Chris-"

Chris chuckled to himself before activating the radio's microphone, "I acted like a dick."

"I know," Claire replied sternly.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions so quickly."

Alice's arrival in Arcadia had helped the settlement greatly and Claire was beginning to think that his grudge against her was nothing more than petty jealousy - that and he probably bust a nut somewhere in between. "No you shouldn't have and next time you're halfway to crazy town, come talk to me okay? I'm here for you."

"Guess I needed a reminder," Chris replied playfully, though there was a hint of regret in his soft tone.

"How's a kick in the ass for a reminder?"

"I'd deserve it," he replied but his mind was elsewhere. He remained quiet for a moment before the radio crackled to life with his voice once more: "Listen Claire, I've been scouting the prison and there's some really weird shit going on here. We need to-"

"What? Alone? Are you-" Claire pinched the bridge of her nose as she growled under her breath and attempted to calm herself down. Alice's training paid off, she thought. "Chris, we don't know their numbers or what they want with us."

"That's what I'm here to find out," he supplied like it was the most obvious answer of them all.

"Seriously? I will kick your damned ass to hell and back if you don't get the fuck out of there, Chris, I'll -"

Thankfully, Chris had a legitimate reason for interrupting his sister's angry rant. "Someone's coming, talk later."

Nothing but radio silence after that. "Idiot!" Claire slammed her radio back down onto the table it previously sat on and started pacing around the tent, venting her frustrations very loudly: "Fucking hell! You can't just get mad at me for going solo James Bond when you fucking turn around and do the same goddamn thing!"

Jill walked into the tent when Claire was just about midway through her monologue that could also be considered a psychotic break - she'd have to ask Alice later to confirm this. She stopped moving and rose an eyebrow at her friend as her eyes followed Claire's frantic movements around the small area, "Did you smoke a doobie by yourself?"

"Chris is scouting the prison - _alone_."

Jill rose an eyebrow, unsure how this even qualified as something the redhead should get worked up over. "I know I've been helping him," Jill shrugged, "and besides he has special ops training. Why are you so worried?"

Claire's answer was a loud frustrated growl and Jill was absolutely sure the vein on the redhead's forehead would burst and coat them both with her blood. "You two are fucking impossible, you know that?"

"Woah, relax Red," Jill brought her hand up as she went to find something she had stuffed into her pockets. "I have something for you," she demonstrated by lifting up the rolled joint like she had found the answer to everlasting peace, and in retrospect, that wasn't too far from the truth.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place? I would have left out the kicking your fucking ass part for not letting me know what you two incredible morons have been doing without so much as advising me first." Claire replied in a way that was undoubtedly sarcastic and a little too aggressive to even be considered passive, Jill thought. Claire sighed and dismissed her friend with her hand, "really not in the mood, Jill."

"I come all the way out here to spend time with you and you refuse to smoke drugs with me? _Who are you?_ " The woman was stressed and she clearly needed something to take the edge off, weed was the obvious answer here. "Doctor's orders, _really_ ," Jill pressed further. She began warming up to Alice the more time she spent with her and honestly, any doctor who suggested weed as a stress relief couldn't have an evil bone in their body.

"Well when you say it like that," Claire chuckled and sat back down on the edge of the bed. She ran a hand through her red locks and decided to tie her mane back into a ponytail. She turned her gaze to Jill and apologized to her silently as she patted the empty space beside her. "Sit," she said with a more relaxed smile.

 _Why did that feel like I just tamed a wild animal? Crocodile hunter got nothing on me._ "She rolled it up for you and everything. The chick's clearly in love." Jill took the offered seat and fished out her lighter and rolled the joint between her fingers as the flame licked and seared the end of the paper.

Jill winked at her friend as she brought the end of the joint that held the makeshift cutter between her lips. She took a gigantic hit and then passed it along into Claire's waiting fingers. Usually, she would have teased Claire about the love-sick smile on her face at the mention of the l-word, but Jill was starting to understand that these two made a great team.

"It's been awhile since we did this together," Claire had realized sadly as she mirrored Jill's action and took a hit that LJ would be proud of. She coughed a few times, and she could confirm Alice had rolled it by the sole fact that her throat wasn't burning like hell (the doctor rolled it with tobacco to smooth it out). The familiar smell filled her senses and soon eased her mind; she already felt its smooth calming effects.

Jill might talk trash most of the time, but she took care of Claire like an older sister would: constant insults with a side of 'will defend you to the death if anyone so much looks at you the wrong way'. It was kind of confusing most of the time and well there wasn't a lot that confused her right now - maybe only the fact that they didn't have coconut pie did though. _Fuck I'm hungry._

They both took a second hit before Claire put it out by flicking her index and then stowed it away for later.

"Well you have been _busy_ ," Jill drawled as she bumped her shoulder against Claire's.

"I know and I'm sorry Jill, I-"

"Fuck no," Jill cut her off quickly, "don't ever be sorry for that."

"You mean that?" Claire asked as she let her head fall against Jill's taut shoulder, the grin on her face was only partially natural.

"Like a heart attack."

Claire let out a loud laugh, "I think you got that saying wrong."

Jill rose an eyebrow as she defended her statement, but barely kept her laughter at bay: "A heart attack is serious, and I'm serious about meaning what I said."

Both women burst out laughing and both fell back onto the bed, making sounds like dying animals because they were severely out of breath and couldn't really control their laughter anymore.

Claire tried to speak between laughs, but only indistinguishable squeaks came out which only made them lose their shit again. It took them a long while, but they finally settled down after a half-hearted attempt at wrestling each other. They ended up cuddling instead because who the hell had energy to do that? Besides, they were both feeling relaxed enough to sleep for days.

Jill wrapped herself around Claire's back and sighed into the back of the woman's head. She crinkled her nose and moved it from side to side as Claire's hair tickled her. _Ew, it's in my mouth,_ Jill thought as she craned her head down to settle against Claire's shoulder instead.

"You miss him don't you, you big sap?" Claire said with a yawn.

"Ugh don't say that," Jill immediately defended like Claire had thrown the worse insult at her, "I'm not a fucking sap." She dismissed the false claims made against her and actually pouted, though she was glad that Claire couldn't see her face.

"Says the one spooned against my back," she shot back with a chuckle.

"Fine," Jill relented, "I miss that look he gives me when he's in a good mood, I miss his stupid stubble that's always there even if he shaves everyday. I miss his eyes. they look like yours though so that's okay, and I miss his big-"

Claire sharply turned into Jill's arms and slapped her hand onto her mouth, a horrified look in her emerald eyes. "Don't you _dare_ finish that sentence, I will throw you out." _And probably throw up,_ Claire thought.

"I was going to say muscles," Jill chuckled behind her hand. Clearly it was a lie.

 _Sure._ "Sleep," Claire ordered sternly and turned around once more and settled back against her friend.

"Mhm," Jill mumbled almost incoherently just as she fell asleep.

Claire wouldn't let herself be vulnerable with anyone else, except for Alice of course. The relationship she and Jill had wasn't as intimate as what she and Alice shared. It felt similar, it had the same intensity but still there was a clear distinction between the two. Though, Claire wouldn't be able to put it into words if asked to explain it and perhaps some of our feelings were meant to do just that. To be felt and not spoken aloud where interpretations could twist the weight of their actual meaning.

 _I could be a damn poet,_ Claire mused as she attempted to make her words rhyme but her newly found passion was soon forgotten as her body and mind succumbed to some well-deserved rest.

* * *

Claire was in the garage, hand deep inside her Triumph's engine; pieces scattered all around her as she had taken it all apart for some TLC maintenance. She had grease up to her elbows and it would probably have dirtied her skin farther up if it wasn't for the rolled up sleeves of the overalls she was wearing. Her red hair was fixed into a bun up on her head as a ponytail would have just gotten in her way.

When Claire was stressed out, or just needed some space to get away from everything, she would come here and work on her 2015 Thunderbird Commander. The bike was a beauty, and was a gift from her father upon completing military boot camp.

Instead of the usual chrome the exhaust, most of the engine, the handle bars, and other accessories were painted matte black. The fuel tank was painted with a dark red with a metallic finish. There was an old school drawing of a pin-up girl with angel wings holding a bomb on top of it. The words 'Made in Heaven' had been delicately written on either side of the tank with wings underneath.

It wasn't exactly a comfortable two-seater, but it did the trick for short trips. She didn't take it out often, though, as it spent gas they needed for more useful trips and made a hell of a lot of noise. Which is why Claire had used it to lead one of the hordes away from the settlement once, though Chris hadn't been exactly enchanted by her ballsy move.

A cleared throat distracted Claire from her work, "sorry to bother you, but where do you want us to put the guns the recon team found today?"

"In the armory with the rest," she replied simply as she inspected the fuel injectors for faults or wear and tear.

The man cleared his throat nervously, and Claire wasn't sure why some of them acted like this around her. I mean, she wasn't a ruthless warlord who cut off her soldier's heads because they failed her (even if she really wanted to sometimes).

"Yeah, uhm, the armory's over capacity ma'am," he explained.

"Put them into the empty ammo crates we have," Claire said as she cleaned the area around the crank shaft with a dirty towel. "Put a latch and a lock on them for now."

"We don't have anymore of those."

Claire nodded, "I'll weld some later." She glanced at him over her shoulder, "anything else?"

"That's all."

"Good work," she saluted him and turned back to the motorcycle's engine. She pulled out a brand new oil seal out of its packaging and worked on replacing it with the old one when another voice broke her concentration.

"Miss Redfield?"

She sighed deeply before she answered: "Yeah?"

"Rachel sprained her knee out there today, doc says she can't walk on it for a few days at least. Who's going to replace her?"

Claire replaced the engine's head gasket as well, an oil leak was never good especially not in this climate. "Ask Valentine, she's the one in charge of your teams."

"I couldn't find her."

"Radio her," Claire answered calmly as she examined the combustion chamber and made her way down to the pistons and push rods; each passing her inspection.

"Roger that ma'am," he said just before he left her alone again - _thank God_.

She could hear him call out Jill on the radio and thought her friend was either was still asleep in her tent or at the mess hall stuffing her face. Claire continued to work with a smile on her face, until footsteps behind her alerted her of someone's presence - though she didn't recognize them by sound.

"Nice bike."

Claire recognized the accented voice, though. "Thanks," she said absent-minded, distracted as she thought about how she could easily weld the garage's door shut. _Is a little peace and quiet to much to ask for? Fucking hell._

"Yeah," Abby smiled fondly at the vehicle. Even if it was missing its engine, it looked like it was taken straight out of an Octane magazine. "I knew how to ride a bike before I ever got into a car," and she couldn't say she enjoyed cars as much as she did motorcycles.

Abby moved closer and peaked at what Claire was doing to the engine. She noticed the tuning module sitting on the table next to all the bolts and nuts that previously held the engine into its designed space. "Are you going to tune the injectors?" Abby asked with sudden interest.

A grin suddenly lit up Claire's face, "you're familiar with this?" When the girl nodded, she surprised herself (and Abby) with her offer: "Wanna give me a hand?" Claire wanted peace and quiet but sharing her passion was something she could never pass up. Plus, the girl seemed to know what she was talking about and she wanted to see if she could walk the walk.

"Hell yeah," Abby quickly replied. There was something her white t-shirt was missing and that was a little grease, it had been a while since she's worked on a beauty like that. She had found an old tin can of a bike a year back, but Mary would never let her work on it. _This beauty is nothing like the bodgy piece of shit I found._

"Check the camshaft for me," Claire said as she observed the young woman work with scrutiny in her gaze. She wiped away some of the grease off her hands before she unzipped the front of her overalls, pulled her arms out of the sleeves, and tied them around her waist. Even without the sun beating down on them the heat was still very much an unforgiving bitch.

"How are you settling in?" Claire asked as she watched Abby's apt hands move in a familiar way around her Triumph's engine.

"Good, everyone's here now and people are pretty friendly." She couldn't have asked for a better turn of events, heck, even living in a dump would be better than having to continue doing what they did for Mary. Abby wished she would have just left, but she didn't and it's a decision she would regret every damn day she woke up, every time she would stare in the mirror at her reflection and remember their faces.

Right now though, Abby wasn't going to let these thoughts pull her away from this moment. She was content to work on a the bike and perhaps even get to know Arcadia's leader a little better. "Did you check the crankshaft's oil seals?"

 _Alright, test passed. The kid knows her stuff._ "Yep, changed them." Claire demonstrated by holding up the old and dirty ones in front of the girl's face. She threw them back onto the work table and leaned back against it.

"You seem pretty close with K-mart. She talks about you a lot," Abby didn't want to come off as straight forward, but the way K-mart had explained it to her, Claire was practically her parent so if she wanted to get anywhere near her she'd need to do some good old-fashioned buttering up.

However, she had recognized early on that Claire probably wouldn't be too receptive to those kinds of games, so showing her what that she was a capable mechanic was her second and only other option.

"Right," Claire replied cautiously. She narrowed her eyes slightly as Abby stopped working on the engine and turned towards her. She noticed the girl's hand was on the work table, nervously playing around with one of the bolts.

"Does she, I mean, is she-" _Fuck! Start by making a full sentence maybe? You bloody oaf._ "Does she have someone?"

Claire didn't answer her right away as she busied herself with inspecting the rest of the engine before she and Abby started to silently put it back together. The redhead was happy that for once she didn't to give out any instructions. "She has lots of people," if this kid wanted to get close to K-mart then she'd have to pass the Claire test, or as K-mart loved to call it, the 'daddy test'.

"I meant a boyfriend or a girlfriend," Abby spoke more confidently this time as she used a ratchet to secure both parts of the engine Claire was holding together for her.

 _There much better, use your words._ "Aren't you two a little young for that?" Claire didn't view K-mart that way, she was a capable kid soon to be a woman, but she wanted to see how Abby stacked up against a little adult opposition.

"We've held more guns and killed more times than we've been kissed by someone we're interested in. I hardly think age matters anymore, maturity might though." Your mind grows far quicker than your body when you're thrown into shitty situations, and their lives were a gigantic shitty situation.

Claire chuckled as she brought the engine towards the bike and gently lowered it into place with Abby's help. "I get it, it's not like you can hide and kiss in school yards anymore right?"

"Something like that," Abby met Claire's green eyes and she saw a hint of understanding in them. Her grin mirrored Claire's and she figured she would easily grow fond of this woman. _Bonus points for being nothing like the old twat-bag._

"The drill's over there," Claire nodded her head at the tool as she held the engine into it's slot. When Abby came back with the drill she had even placed the right sized box onto it. _Alright, I'm adopting her._ Claire raised her voice to make herself heard over the loud powertool, "so you're...interested in her?" _Trying to make someone talk about their emotions is fucking worse than speaking about mine. This is so not my thing._

"I don't know, maybe?" Abby replied, uncertainty in her voice as she tightened the bolts that secured the engine to the motorcycle's frame. Truthfully, her childhood had never been that great, except for bikes, and then the outbreak quickly forced her to grow up. Abby never experienced love like a normal teenager and she probably never will - everything was different now - and she had nothing to go on, nothing to compare to.

"You should probably figure that out then," there was no way Claire was going to let some undecided kid mess with K-mart. She saw the way they looked at each other, the way K-mart's eyes lit up when Abby appeared - she had a crush and that was clear. Claire didn't want to see it as trouble, everyone had the right to enjoy intimacy, but the protective parent part of her reared it's ugly head every time K-mart was involved.

"I'm not sure how," Abby confessed.

Claire remained silent as they finished bolting the engine and wired what needed to be wired; her knees screamed at her for not putting something between them and the hard concrete underneath. She moved one of her legs so that she rested her weight on her foot instead of the knee that remained pressed into the ground. With a sigh Claire stopped working and turned to Abby, "look kid, I'm really not the best person to be having this conversation with."

Abby frowned as she thought that had to be the biggest lie she's ever head. She's seen her and the blonde doctor together, they seemed to have figured it out well enough. "You're with Alice, right? How did you know?"

 _Are we really doing this? Ugh, fine._ It's really hard to act all tough when hopeful, puppy dog eyes are sent your way, Claire thought. "She makes me feel calm. Even when I didn't know her that well, I know it sounds improbable and it probably is, but I felt comfortable with her from the start. When some things don't make sense I know that what I felt for her does, and I think that's what grounds me. I never thought about it too much, you know," Claire let out a chuckle as she shook her head, "it feels like I've known her for years but at the same time it feels brand new every day." Claire watched as Abby fetched the injector tuning module, though the teen intently listened to every word she spoke.

"You said you weren't the right person for this kind of talk," Abby teased as she sat on the ground cross-legged and worked on plugging the tuning module to the engine.

Claire chuckled and rolled her eyes, the girl remind Claire of herself so much it was kind of scary. "If I told you I had everything figured out I know it would be a straight out lie because I won't ever have that luxury, none of us will. Still, I went with my gut even if it scared the shit out of me. And there's no magical formula for it, you either go for it or you don't."

Abby snorted, "I hate that feeling of uncertainty and being afraid, it's so…"

"Weak? Yeah, I know," Claire smiled softly. She understood the girl's feeling, though with experience she came to understand fear was just an obstacle you faced when you needed to grow. If you didn't want to face it, or let it control you, then you'd remain stuck in the same state of mind.

"It's ready," Abby moved her bangs from her eyes and leaned back as she watched Claire input the desired settings into the module. For a moment, she even let herself feel happiness. It was obvious that Claire wasn't unconfident about talking about love for lack of understanding, she was just insecure about her own emotions. _Kind of like me_ , Abby thought. Vulnerability is hard to share, and harder to convince yourself that it's okay to have.

Claire tuned the injectors for fuel economy, she really wanted to take Alice on a ride soon. Once she made all her desired modifications, she and Abby started clearing up the work area of the mess they had made. Once everything was cleaned, sort of, they shared a high five for a job well done. "Well Abby, if you were looking for a job you've got one now."

"Shit, you're for real?"

Claire grinned and nodded at the girl, "you know how to weld, right?"

"With both eyes closed and one hand behind my back," Abby replied with a smirk.

"Welcome aboard," Claire shook hands with the girl and if she had any doubts about her before they had all disappeared now. Though, she'd keep a close eye on her and K-mart, just to make sure, not because she's being overprotective and hovering too close. Right? Right.

"Thanks Claire, you won't regret it."

 _And I've got just the job for you,_ "we need latches for locks made. There's some scrap metal in the back, take what you need."

Abby nodded and moved towards the racks of sorted metal. Iron angles were stacked together with similarly shaped pieces while bigger items were stacked on top of each other; there were a lot of car hoods and other car parts stacked into another rack, Abby noticed. There was a rack for electrical parts as well. _This has gotta be heaven._

"And Abby," Claire waited for the girl to turn around and face her. She offered a small smile as she said: "K-mart doesn't have a girlfriend."

This was clearly Claire's way of giving Abby her blessing and the teen couldn't stop the grin that spread on her face. She then realized she also couldn't control the way her heart was beating out of her chest.

If love was a sickness she'd understand her body's response to it, but the young girl was still unaware why emotions could so easily mess with her head. She usually possessed laser focus, but all she can seem to think about is K-mart's hazel eyes, and her pretty blonde hair, and her soft-looking lips.

Abby cursed herself for her wandering mind _, Latches, right. Fuck._ She heard Claire's hearty laugh and wondered if she had said that outloud. _I'm going bloody insane._

* * *

When Jill woke up her stomach grumbled and it felt like she hadn't eaten anything in days. She decided that maybe she'd rummage through her junk food reserves because she seriously itched for some chips right now and sour candies too...at the same time. _That sounds fucking God-like._

She moved off of the bed and slipped on the tactical vest she had discarded before she and Claire smoked took the luxury of taking a long nap. Jill wasn't surprised to find Claire had disappeared, but she was glad the redhead had let her sleep a little longer; she hadn't gotten the best sleep in the past few days.

She truly hated human intimacy, well, she hated needing it and missing it. The naked part was her favorite, you know, but there was something about feeling unhinged when someone you grew to depend on just left without a warning. Now that just seriously pissed her off. _Why did God think it was a good idea to give us emotions anyway? Honestly! They make us dumb._

Jill decided she'd couldn't wait for Chris to come back so she could kick his stupid ass, then kiss it better, then kick it again for good measure. _See what I mean? How does that even make sense?_

"Ironside 6 for Hayley," the guard's voice fortunately interrupted thoughts Jill would rather not have in the first place.

Jill unclipped her radio's mic from her vest with one hand and ran her fingers through her hair with the other. "I'm not having a mental breakdown, what can I do for you sweetie?"

Hayley chuckled, "some arsehole is at the gate, on a horse, and he has people with him. Lots of them."

"Speak dirty to me, my sweet Irish lady, how many?"

 _Wow, she's in a good mood,_ Hayley thought as she replied to her supervisor: "Nothing we can't handle, ma'am."

 _Fucking finally, some action._ "I'll prepare the teams, switch channels and wait for Red's go ahead."

"Roger that ma'am," the guard carried out Jill's orders and kept an eye on the intruders and signaled for the gate to be opened.

"Redfield!" Jill yelled through her microphone, adrenaline already rushing through her veins, "get your fingers out of the cookie jar, we got company."

After some fumbling around, Claire answered furiously: "Jill, I swear to God!"

"You can swear to Valentine, you know that," she didn't leave Claire any time to shoot back some empty death threats, "Let's get this show on the road people. All assigned teams report for duty at the front gate. Defensive formation, keep it tight boys and girls, just the way we like it!" Jill let out a laugh and clipped her mic back onto her vest.

She crossed Claire's threshold and marched to her quarters to recover her shotgun and two mags for her handgun. _Boy, oh boy! Can't wait to shoot me some douchebags._ She was glad no one had telepathic powers to hear the Mickey Mouse voice Jill had just used in her head.

After loading her weapons, Jill made her way to the gate,where her teams were already assembled and had placed themselves like she ordered. She crossed the rest of the way to the front gate and came face to face with the asshole that would soon ruin everyone's day. "Welcome to Arcadia, does your boyfriend dye your hair or do you do it all by yourself?"

A smirk lifted up the corner of his lip, _blubbering fools._ "Such a warm welcome, I hope you don't treat all your guests with such finesse?"

"You went and opened your mouth and made everything so much more worse," if there was one thing Jill truly hated with a passion, it was being condescended like a child. "The fuck you want, peroxide head?" She asked and took a moment to size up his army.

Jill rose an eyebrow as she took in their medieval-like armor, it heavily contrasted with their automatic weapons. Though one of them held a massive axe in both of his hands. _What a tool,_ Jill snorted.

"I didn't introduce myself, didn't I? I'm Albert Wesker, or the Red Horseman if you prefer. And you are?"

"About to kick your ass if you don't answer my fucking question," Jill rested her shotgun on her shoulder, finger on the trigger.

"I wish to have a chat with a Miss Redfield."

"She's busy," Jill replied with a sweet smile that was nothing but.

"I can wait," he said with a grin that spread on his face.

Jill's nostrils flared as she watched the man's army stare her team down the sights of their guns. Arcadia had numbers on their side so this would be easy, but Claire would have her head if she didn't at least try to figure out what this prick wanted before she blew holes into him.

Jill saw Wesker's smile widen as he stared at something behind her, and when she turned she was thankful to see who it was.

"Claire Redfield," Albert greeted as he opened both of his arms in a way that would be inviting to most, but Claire could easily tell it was all for show. "So nice to finally meet you."

Claire, however, was in no mood for games, "why are you here?" She demanded and watched Alice approach them from the corner of her eye.

"I would like to propose a trade," he said as he eyed the blonde doctor.

"Food? Weapons?" The redhead asked. _Maybe a cape to go with that holier-than-thou attitude?_

Albert chuckled and stepped forward closer to the trio, his armor clanking together with each step he took. "Not quite, we wish to trade Doctor Abernathy for, let's say, not killing every last one of you?"

Claire laughed, "you do realize you have sniper rifles aimed at your head, right? You're in no position to make any demands."

"Oh but I am," Wesker smirked sardonically. He laughed as he watched Jill lurch forward, only to be stopped by Claire. He lifted a fist up, telling his army to stand down. There was no need for bloodshed, yet.

 _Condescending prick_. "What do you want with her?" There was no way Claire would let Alice leave with them, and if that meant killing each and everyone of these assholes then so be it.

"Doctor Isaacs, whom you know as the White Horseman, requires her help."

"For what?" Alice asked with a raised eyebrow. She stood beside Claire, one hand on the handle of her kukri.

"She speaks!" Albert exclaimed with another laugh, "Well, dear friend, that isn't important right now. What's important, however, is the two choices I'm going to give you: you come with us willingly and no harm will come to your friends, or you decline and we tear this place apart, take you and kill everyone else. including your loved ones." He moved a gloved finger towards Jill and shook his head then stopped it in front of Claire. "It's this one, am I correct? Yes, I see it," he stepped closer towards the woman and the fire in her eyes made him inexplicably joyful. "Romantic entanglements are a very dangerous affair, so to speak."

"Christ, are you going to break into song? Your outfits-" Jill's gaze moved to each one of his men and turned back to him with a smirk "they're cute, but I'm not sure it's what you'd call good protection, _so to speak_."

Wesker lifted one of the plates off his chest to reveal the bulletproof vests underneath.

Jill didn't need to stare at this face to see there was a smirk firmly planted there.

"If Doctor Isaacs wants to speak with me, he can come and find me," she turned to gaze at Claire for a moment and it was all the permission she needed. "We're done here."

Just as they started to leave Wesker called out: "bring him out!" He smirked as the tactic effectively stopped them in their tracks. A man with a bag over his head and bound hands was pushed to the front so they could all see him. They removed the bag and pushed a gun against the back of his head.

Jill snarled as she met Chris' eyes. She marched up to Wesker and cocked her shotgun against his head. "I have a choice for you: you take your pack of tin cans and get the fuck out of here and I won't blow your fucking brains out."

"Jill!" Claire yelled when the woman didn't move every gun was suddenly trained on her. "Jill, calm down."

If anything, she pressed the barrel of her gun harder against his forehead. "Are you fucking serious? Let me kill the prick and we can go on with our lives."

"You shoot him, we're all dead." She approached the woman slowly, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'll fix this I promise," Claire whispered to her friend. _She took a mental note to tell Jill they were spectacular actors later when this was over._

After a few tense minutes, Jill finally relented and took a step back but kept her glare firmly onto Wesker's smirking face.

It was all the distraction they needed for their teams to move into place as Claire had discreetly signaled Hayley at the top of her tower. The gate closed and gun fire rained down on them like hell fire.

Jill had made a beeline towards Chris, covered by their sniper's gunfire pinning their enemies down, and blew off his chains. They fell at her feet and set him free. "Damsel in distress runs in the family, huh?"

Chris smiled brightly as he stared up into her bright green eyes, "I missed you."

"I know. Come on," Jill grabbed him by the bicep as she brought them both to cover behind one of their sandbag trenches. Once protected from the gunfire around them, Jill threw Chris her handgun, which he caught. "How'd you get captured, you moron?"

Chris pulled the hammer back and listened to the satisfying sound it made as it cocked. He dodged Jill's question because it didn't really matter how it happened, "Wesker might look like a douchebag, and he is, but he has strength like I've never seen before," he warned.

"Well, you probably should tell your sister that," Jill nodded at Claire who had just charged him and ended up on her ass. Though Alice was there to even up the odds, Jill wasn't too worried. "Even if he's juiced up on steroids-"

"I don't think it was steroids, Jill. They were up to some shady experimenting there. They caught me before I could really dig, but what I found wasn't anything that would put them on Santa's 'good' list."

"Then let's waste the fuckers quick, I'm fucking hungry." Jill moved from cover and shot buckshot at one of Wesker's men. She laughed as the force of the impact blew him backwards. _AH! Asshole._

Chris chuckled as they fired on their enemies from behind cover. _Should have never left._

Their teams fired relentlessly on the intruders; when the first lines needed to reload, the defensives lines behind them moved in front to cover them. The teams with the fresh mags would then move back up and let the previous frontline take time to reload.

Chris glanced over his shoulder to see if his sister and Alice were able to gain the upper hand on the White Horseman's juiced up bodyguard, what he saw did nothing to soothe is nerves, though. _Dammit, should have brought a rocket launcher._

Alice attempted to slice Wesker but he easily dodged her blade and kicked her in the stomach. She flew backwards into the sand, her body skidding to a halt a few feet away. _How is he so strong?_ Alice coughed violently, but suppressed her pain the best she could as she stood up on shaky legs and charged at him again.

Claire threw a roundhouse at his head while Alice went for a leg sweep but he blocked Claire's foot with the back of his hand, jumped over Alice's foot and twister the redhead's leg, making her fall back down harshly. _No one's that quick,_ Alice thought as she watched him move passed all of their strikes with ease.

Claire attempted to throw a punch at him but he deflected the hit and grabbed her neck instead. He lifted her up off the ground like she weighed nothing and slammed her down into the ground, his fingers still clutched around her throat.

Alice quickly kneed his exposed ribs, which hardly made him move an inch. She could feel her heartbeat in her throat as she frantically attacked him, if she didn't do something soon Wesker would choke her to death.

Spotting an opening in his armor plates, Alice plunged her kukri blade between them and into his shoulder, the blade cutting through his flesh like it was butter. He let out a yell as Alice used both of her hands to push the blade inside completely.

Wesker shrugged Alice off of him and stood up, laughing as he watched Claire's unmoving body under him. He stretched his neck as if he was trying to relieve pressure from a knot and pulled out the blade like it had been a toothpick. He groan and rolled his shoulder before dodging Alice's fists aimed at his head.

Wesker delivered a hard punch into Alice's stomach, her chest clenched tightly from the blow and caused her to bend over harshly just in time to see his knee moving up and knocked her out cold.

* * *

Claire felt the ground underneath her move, like it was shaking, and for a few seconds she thought it was an earthquake. When she opened her hazy eyes, the ringing in her head caused her to shut them once again. She heard voices, although distant, and couldn't quite focus on them.

When she finally came to, she first noticed that Jill and Chris were standing over her.

"She's awake," Chris said as relief flooded his features.

Claire rolled onto her side, groaning painfully. She pushed herself up slightly but started to cough violently as her bruised throat made it hard to swallow. She spit out blood from her mouth once the coughing subsided, and sat up with Jill's help.

"Where-did-" Claire croaked, her mouth felt incredibly dry.

"They're gone," Chris answered.

"Mostly dead," Jill explained further.

"Alice?" She wasn't sure why her brother and Jill were holding her down. "What are you-where's Alice?"

"Wesker took her," Chris explained and braced himself knowing what would come next.

Claire flared her nostrils as she violently thrashed against them, "Let me go, dammit, I have to go after them!"

"Claire, you've been out for hours. They're most likely back at the prison by now," he tried to reason as he and Jill struggled against to keep her down.

"I don't fucking care! If you don't let me go, I'll-" Claire started coughing again and blood filled up her mouth. She spat it, but when she attempted to move from the stretcher Chris and Jill only pushed her back down again. She let out a loud growl as she fought against them with all of her strength. When the ringing started in her ear again she felt a white hot flash of pain shoot through her whole body as everything started to fade away - but not the pain.

"Betty! Get your ass over here!" Jill yelled as she frantically watched her friend have a violent seizure. "The fuck is happening?"

"The lack of oxygen to her brain is causing a seizure," Betty slipped on a pair of latex gloves as she spoke. "We need to move her onto her side. On three: one, two, three," Betty gently rolled Claire towards her with Chris' help and then checked her mouth to make sure she wasn't choking on anything.

Betty moved back and watched as Jill held her Claire's hand tightly into hers, whispering something she couldn't quite catch. This is what made or broke a nurse, you either let it get to you, or you let it motivate you. Betty always chose the latter.

She stepped forward again and gently rubbed Jill's arm closest to her. "The only thing we can do now is let her ride it out. I'll have her hooked up on oxygen once it stops. She'll be alright," she assured confidently.

Betty was a nervous wreck inside, but she wouldn't let it show. The clinic was filled with patients bleeding from GSW's and Arcadia's leader was seizuring on the only stretcher they had. She had been here for less than a week and then this happens? She needed to step the hell up. _No one's dying on my watch._

 _Welcome to Arcadia, yay!_ Betty thought sarcastically.


	11. Did they steal your beating heart?

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, my grandfather, whom I was really close to, passed away three weeks ago and needless to say it hit me pretty hard. I tried to write every day but I just couldn't, and it made me feel even shittier since this story has just been writing itself so easily - I had no lack of inspiration for it since I started and I sort of hit a wall. It's getting better though, and when I woke up this morning and I was able to finalize the chapter.**

 **Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy this chapter even if it's a little shorter than the rest. It was supposed to be one part but I decided to cut it into two, I didn't want to skim over the big rescue or Alice's captivity.**

* * *

Alice was forcefully moved from a dark cell to the prison's brightly lit hallways; that's when she realized the migraine, that made it hard for her to fully open her eyes, wasn't just from the blow Wesker had delivered to her head but was in fact from her broken nose.

She could feel the damaged bone didn't sit right on her face, but thankfully the doctor diagnosed it as a clean break. Alice could set it back into place easily, all she needed was a mirror. She lifted up her hand to touch her nose and hissed in pain at the contact.

Wesker's henchmen, or henchwoman in this case, led Alice passed a few hallways that closely resembled the maze she and Claire had gone through a week earlier. A sudden wave of dizziness hit her and made her lose her step, the woman quickly pulled Alice up by the back of her shirt and shoved her forward.

"Walk," the voice behind her commanded, "I don't have all day."

Alice pressed her palm against the wall to steady herself and glanced over her shoulder at her not-so-friendly guide: "Where are you taking me?" Her voice sounded strange, even to her, as her throat was parched from dehydration and her nasal cavity was partially blocked and filled with blood.

"I'm not here to answer your questions. Walk," Wesker's soldier repeated as she roughly pushed the doctor again to further illustrate her point.

Alice chuckled but remained silent as she pushed off the wall and did her best to ignore the gnawing pain that made her way from her temple to her jaw and down to her nose. Soon after she was jostled into a large room filled with medical equipment that seemed to be in perfect working order. Loud generators placed around the room supplied the equipment's electrical demands and Alice wondered how many convoys they had to suck dry to power all of those.

A large work counter had been set up in the middle of the room, the other half of the room was hidden behind pale-colored blinds; Alice figured there were stretchers behind them and though she hoped they were empty she wasn't naive enough to believe so.

The far right wall featured a large tinted window, most likely one-way like most interrogation rooms. Again, she highly doubted any interrogation took place behind that dark glass and the thought alone made her blood boil.

A tall man dressed in a lab coat greeted her with a wide grin and Alice noted how much it resembled Wesker's overly confident smirk. "Ah, Alice, so good of you to join us," he gestured his hand like a car salesman showcasing a brand new, shiny vehicle. "Impressive, isn't it?"

Alice didn't say anything as she immediately recognized the man's voice. Dr. Isaacs, she guessed noted, but she was reluctant to use such a prestigious title to refer to this man. Sure, the medical equipment set up in this room was enough to make any scientist water at the mouth, but what it was probably used for took away all of its luster.

Isaacs stepped forward in front of Alice but glanced behind her at the grunt that had brought her here; he dismissed her with a nonchalant wave of his hand. Isaacs then moved his oddly concerned gaze on Alice's broken nose and cocked his head slightly, "I apologize for Albert's barbaric actions." He gently grabbed her chin only to have her jerk away the moment his fingertips grazed her skin. He chuckled and then took a step back, sliding his hands into the pockets of his lab coat, "he tells me you were quite the handful."

This highly romanticized introduction made Alice nauseous, but not because of anxiety from her previous panic attacks - she guessed he just had that effect on people. "Get to the point, what do you want?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"All work no play I see." He nodded and smiled at her, "the virus that did all this is similar to the well-known Lyssavirus. In fact, it's in the same family. I named it Palivirea, yet contrary to popular rumors I am not its creator," Isaacs leisurely walked around the woman and examined her closely with slightly narrowed eyes. "Paliviera comes from the Greek-"

"Rebirth and virus - yeah, I got that much." Alice rolled her eyes and wondered who loved hearing the sound of their own voices more between Isaacs and Wesker and found that she couldn't come to a definitive conclusion.

Isaacs chuckled and slightly bowed at the woman, the only apology Alice will see coming from him she thought wryly. "I'm surrounded by idiots and often times I forget how brilliant you are," he then moved towards a lonely desk and picked up a large pile of paper from its surface. "I read your medical journal on cell regeneration - a very interesting read indeed."

He let it fall back onto the desk and faced Alice's snarl with a wide grin; it seemed she wasn't conversation-inclined. "I developed a strain of the virus that, instead of attacking our physiology to take over it completely, it would instead fuse with it - mutate if you will. None of my test subjects reacted well to it, however. Some mutated and lived, some mutated and perished." Alice's body language screamed at him to stop talking, she had gotten visibly more agitated since he mentioned her journal.

"Your research," he pointed to the stack of papers beside him, "helped me greatly. You see, Palivirea has the ability to replicate from incomplete antigenomes. Once it enters a living organism's' blood cells, it spreads and completely infects its host in just a few hours. What's fascinating, however, is the way it regenerates dead cells."

Alice wasn't sure what to say, she couldn't understand how he had even managed to find hard copies of her research. Before the outbreak, herself and other doctors had poured a lot of time and countless resources into finding a non-destructive way to cure cancer, and the best answer they found then was to regenerate the dead cells the cancer would destroy. They were close to finding a solution, but one of their researchers backed out and they ran out of funding.

"I figured," Alice replied impatiently as she switched her weight on her right foot, her fists tightly clenched at her side. She hoped this monologue would eventually lead to a point of some kind - one that would either answer her question or give her the opportunity to wipe that annoying smirk off of his face.

"What's even more fascinating, my dear Alice is your DNA. I took the liberty of taking a sample of your blood and infected it with the virus and astonishing as it may sound, your cells seamlessly fused with it."

"Bullshit!" Alice growled as she took a few steps forward and practically breathed in Isaac's face. She doesn't usually let herself loose control like this but this man played around with her DNA without her consent and used research aimed to cure the sick for his ridiculous experiments. Revenge was petty, but she was starting to understand why people sought it out.

Before the outbreak that stunt would have had his license stripped immediately and landed him behind bars for the rest of his life - perhaps it was fitting that he chose this place as his shelter. Alice began having very vivid images of stripping him of his skin and thought it was a more suitable punishment.

"Do you think I would have gone through all that trouble to bring you here if I was bluffing? Do you think you'd be alive if I didn't need you?" He let out a sardonic laugh and smirked when she flinched at his words. Isaacs motioned to the microscopes across the way from him, "see for yourself."

Reluctantly, and still very much snarling at the man, Alice made her way to the work counter and bent down over one of the microscopes. The blood rushed down through her nose and the pain that shot up her sinuses was far from gentle. Fuck, Alice steadied herself on the table and once the pain subsided she finally looked down into the eyepiece lense.

Alice's right hand adjusted the fine focus wheel until the blurry reflection became perfectly clear. What were clearly human cells swirled around with a foreign host attached to it, thought it was hard to differentiate the two as they had merged together. The only way to distinguish one from the other was the shape of this so-called 'Rebirth Virus' were round-shaped cells with spike-like strands protruding from its surface.

Alice shook her head as she moved back and turned her gaze on Isaacs, "that's...impossible," she frowned. What exactly did this mean for her? Could she get infected from bites and scratches? Palivirea didn't take over her cells but merged with them to form one. Technically, her DNA hadn't been invaded but transformed.

"I thought the same until I found you. You are truly one of a kind Alice," he explained with wonder. "Do you know what we could do with your DNA? What enhancements we could bring to the human race?"

Alice chuckled humorlessly and shook her head, "you've massacred countless lives, you're not a doctor, not even a scientist. You're disgusting." She wasn't surprised when he smiled fondly at her, nothing phased him. She thought he was probably too far into his own delusions to see how wrong his actions were.

"You and I are alike in so many ways. You understand the need to fix, to create, to make better. You may not see it now, but on some level you understand me."

Alice scoffed, "a diploma doesn't make you a doctor, your actions are what give you that title. You're just a delusional scientist with a God complex. We are nothing alike." When Alice become a doctor, she swore to help and heal anyone who sought her aid to the best of ability - Isaacs did the exact opposite.

Isaacs shrugged, "perhaps you're right, but it doesn't invalidate what I've being doing here - what we're going to be achieving together. You already helped," Isaacs nodded his head at her research with a large grin.

Alice's jaw clenched instinctively, "If you think I'm going to help you do anything you might as well kill me now."

Isaacs shook his head negatively, killing her was the last thing he wanted. She was his equal, his challenger, his project. "I need you Alice, and soon, you'll need me too."

Alice watched as she slid both of his hands inside his pockets again and noticed that he was holding onto something. She raised an eyebrow at his not-so-subtle smirk and casually moved away from the table.

They slowly danced around each other down for a few quiet seconds, challenging the other to make the first move. Isaacs knew he had been made, though he wasn't surprised. He also knew she wasn't going to jump at him without a reason, so he lurched forward with the loaded syringe he had pulled from his pockets.

Alice quickly blocked him and watched the needle and the turquoise liquid within as she struggled against him; she guessed that was Isaac's enhanced formula of the Rebirth Virus.

Alice groaned when she pushed him backward with her foot. They began moving around each other again, and Isaacs quickly swiped at her in a series of quick, uncalculated blows that Alice easily dodged.

"This world needs a savior, it needs me." Isaacs faked another attempted swipe with his needle and let it fall into his other hand while he threw a punch aimed at Alice's jaw in an attempt to distract her.

"You're not helping anyone but yourself," Alice reached to grasp his wrist and immobilized the hand holding the needle while she gripped his other arm and swiftly spun him over her shoulder. Blood rushed to her head and caused her to stagger backward as Isaac harshly fell onto his side.

Isaacs growled and scattered to his feet, groaning in pain as she placed a hand over his now bruised ribs. "Join me! This will be the start of a new era - a new world."

Alice scoffed as she side-stepped his meager attempt at charging at her. The attack left him open, so she grabbed his arm and held him into place as she pushed her knee into his already sore ribs. "You can't cure humanity by wanting to destroy it."

"For there to be light, there must first be darkness," Isaacs recited with the inaccuracy of a fanatic lacking any spiritual guidance.

"This isn't the answer, Isaacs, you've gone too far." If Alice was truthful with herself, this man could truly help save their dying world. He was brilliant, that was clear, but he was so far gone into his own illusion of grandeur that doing anything selfless was impossible.

Isaacs laughed as Wesker, who had quietly sneaked behind Alice, wrapped both of his large arms under her armpits and locked her arms behind her own head.

"There is only one way," Isaacs growled before plunging a needle into her neck and releasing its contents into her bloodstream with his thumb. He took a step back, growling in pain as his bruised ribs screamed with every breath he took. However great the pain was, he still managed to keep a satisfied grin up as he gleefully watched Alice stumble and crash into the refrigerator that held various test tubes and broke the glass door on impact.

Alice struggled to catch her breath and barely registered the sharp glass that cut into her shoulder. She attempted to steady herself against the refrigerator but a searing pain shot through her head and caused her already shaky legs to give out from under her. She yelled in agony and clutched to her head as an unbearable burn set into the entirety of her body.

The virus acted quickly and synthesized with the protein in her body which caused violent convulsions as her organs and muscle tissue adjusted to the change in gene composition.

"Put her solitary confinement, and don't be shy with the restraints," Isaacs spoke as he slicked back his hair with both of his hands then dusted off his lab coat.

Alice let out another yell as a she felt a stabbing pain in her stomach. Her fingers slowly crawled forward onto the ground until they touched something solid. They dug down into material that felt like leather - a boot. She let out a quivering whimper as she craned her head up with difficulty and inhaled shaky breaths through her gritted teeth. "W-what...d-did..you-" Wesker's blurry smirk was the last thing she saw before she fainted.

Isaacs watched as Wesker effortlessly picked up her and carried her out of the room, though this moment hadn't felt like the victory he had wished for as he would have hoped for Alice to join him. He knew how the virus reacted to her DNA, but he had become increasingly curious to see how her whole body would react to this transformation.

We're going to do great things together you and I, whether you like it or not. He smirked to himself as he discarded the now empty syringe in one of the biohazard disposal containers that hung on the wall.

He took in the mess their scuffle had left behind as he moved in front of the freezer and placed his hand against the metallic trim on the broken door. His eyes sadly regarded the now compromised DNA samples that had been kept inside. What a mess, Isaacs sighed as the cool air hit his skin.

* * *

Claire sharpened Alice's Kukri blade as she sat on the wooden floor of her tent, her back leaned against her drawer. K-mart had given the blades to her and explained she had found them half buried in the sand where they had fought the Red Horseman and his bands of tin cans - she hadn't left them out of her sight since. Alice had always taken good care of them there wasn't much sharpening to do really, but Claire needed to do something to occupy her busy mind.

When she had woken up and Betty had informed her that she had been out for three days Claire was way passed furious. Jill and Chris didn't think there was a word to describe the look on her face when they told her. Alice was at the prison and they just let her sleep? So what if her condition was fucking critical, and she had a fucking seizure and brain hemorrhaging - and other medical bullshit that was listed to her - Wesker and Isaacs had Alice.

Claire pressed her fingertips against the dull part of the blade, her other hand was wrapped around the hilt as she used it to push the sharp edge of the Kukri against the whetstone's coarse surface in a slow yet precise motion. Oddly enough, the sound of the metal grinding against the stone soothed her.

Claire had calmed down, eventually, after nearly breaking the clinic's door and yelling her frustrations until her throat burned - which really didn't help her bruised throat at all. Mostly, though, she was angry she had felt so completely powerless to help Alice.

Claire grabbed a piece of cloth and carefully wiped away the residue that was left of the blade until the surface shined brightly as if unscathed by battle. And though on the surface it may seem that way, to a trained eye the marks were still clearly visible.

She replayed the fight in her mind over and over until she had scrutinized every move, every mistake she had made. Yet the one constant that didn't make sense was Wesker's inhuman abilities. Claire had fought brutes before but this man possessed strength like she had never witnessed before.

With one last swipe of the cloth against the Kukri, Claire sheathed the weapon against her hip and turned her gaze to the locked case that lay at the feet of her bed. Perhaps she couldn't take down Wesker herself, but she knew something that could. If that didn't do the trick, they would probably have to turn to nuclear weapons - not that it was a viable possibility (and she'd never risk hurting this planet more than it already was).

Claire bent down and picked up the heavy case and lifted it off the ground with a groan; it's moments like this she was especially happy she could use her deadlifting strength for something other than throwing barbells up and down. Claire used her free hand to move the tents front flaps out of the way as she stepped outside and moved towards the command station.

Her gaze fell on the relatively small helicopter that was parked next to the wooden building; she could see Abby and Jill's figure inside of it. It wasn't a military model and had exactly no kind of offensive weapons as it was an aircraft used to tour around the city, but it had a very spacey passenger cabin that would hold six people and had sliding doors on either side.

Though Claire had been incapacitated for the last three days, the rest of Arcadia had been dutifully preparing their attack on the prison knowing their leader would be ready to strike back the moment she woke up - they had been right. They wanted to get everything ready for her, it was the least they could do.

Abby had repaired their helicopter while the scavenging teams scored enough Jet-A fuel for a trip there and back. Claire had kept this project on the back burner as she wanted to keep it for an emergency evacuation of the settlement if ever needed, but Jill had given out the order to take it out and Claire was glad she did.

Jill turned around at the sound of approaching footsteps and smiled when her gaze fell upon the redhead. Wordlessly she grabbed one end of the case and helped Claire slide the case inside the chopper through the opened side door. Though she was happy to see her up and about, Jill remained quiet as she sensed Claire needed it. They both secured the case under the empty seats and tied them down with heavy duty straps.

Abby gave Jill a nod from the pilot's seat, K-mart had taken the co-pilot's seat as she helped her make a final check on the helicopter's cockpit to make sure everything was in working order. Much to Abby's surprise the young blonde remained quiet and focused on what they were doing, though Abby knew she wanted to jump into Claire's arms.

Abby surprised herself as she gathered K-mart's hand in her own and gave it a reassuring squeeze. It meant a lot of things; it meant 'I'm here for you,' and 'hold on just a bit longer', and from the teary smile that came K-mart, Abby thought it was exactly the right thing to do.

Once the case was secure, Claire turned around, still crouched in the helicopter and came face to face with a crowd of soldiers standing at the ready waiting for her orders, her brother at the forefront.

Claire couldn't help the smile that escaped her as Chris winked at her. He was a picture perfect image of a proud soldier: standing tall, chin high with a fresh high and tight haircut. Even though they had been at odds, seeing him like this made him proud to be his sister.

What Claire didn't know, however, is that Chris had done all of this just for her - his pride was solely directed at his younger sister (heck, he got his haircut just for her). Even if he had questioned her motives the last few months, Chris would follow her through hell and high water if that meant fixing his stupid mistakes.

Jill stepped down and joined the crowd proudly; she winked at K-mart and Abby as they both joined her. "We're ready on your go, Red."

All eyes were on her and Claire figured they expected some motivational, power-charged speech before they delve into this great battle. This time though, she didn't know what to say. Claire hated that she had involved them into something personal, that some of them would lose their life to save Alice. It was something she felt she had to do on her own, but she knew that was impossible.

Spotting her her friend's distressed look, Jill turned addressed them instead. Come on Red, don't freeze up on her now. "Alright listen up!" Jill started, though she didn't need to very loud as not a single sound was heard. "Each one of you has to know exactly what you need to be doing once we get to the prison. If you fuck up, people will die, your friends will die," Jill took a reluctant glance at Claire's face just in time to see her subtle facepalm. Okay, so she's not exactly good at this whole motivational thing. Why did it seem so simple when Claire did it?

Instead of scaring everyone to death some more, Jill decided to recap their plan instead. It was always a good idea to revise a plan of attack before going into the thick of it. "Fire team Alpha will charge the front gate and cover Bravo and Charlie. Chris will lead Bravo team to the first entrance and Hayley will flank with team Charlie. Delta will search the prison for survivors." Jill took another look at Claire, who was actually almost smiling - almost. "Any questions?"

Claire listened to Jill answer the various questions thrown at her with a small smile; her friend was exceptional at tactical planning, not so much with words though. Claire did the talking, Jill did the directing and Chris kept everyone in line and punched boulders when he needed to (metaphorical boulders of course).

They truly did make a great team, but in Alice's absence Claire felt that something was missing and she noticed it hadn't just affected her, but everyone in Arcadia as well. Perhaps she had been wrong with her earlier assumptions about her own motives. "I thought asking you to do this was selfish, I thought I was the only one affected - I was wrong. We've fought, we've survived and we've mourned together; Arcadia's strength comes from each and every one of you."

Still don't know how she does that, Jill thinks as she felt the hairs stand up on her arms and the back of her neck at the redhead's powerful words - she was just about ready to kick some ass.

"We're a family, Alice is family, and we're getting her back," Claire stepped down from the helicopter and raised her voice as well as her fist. "Let's show these prison folk exactly how a family fights together," she watched as everyone mirrored her action with loud cheers. She chuckled at their enthused hollers and spoke a little louder over all the noise: "take a moment to get ready, we're leaving in ten."

Claire turned and sat down inside the helicopter, her heels touched the case that held her rocket launcher under her feet. The weapon she had kept in her tent for the last four years gave her some reassurance their insane plan was going to work. She ran her hand through her hair before she tied them in a bun.

Jill entered behind her and took the empty seat in front of her, "well you got everyone all hot and bothered. Shit, Red, even I think I need a tissue, and it's not for my face," Jill added with an eyebrow wiggle.

Claire chuckled as her gaze turned to stare into Jill's shining hazel eyes, "nice," she replied though it was evident she was preoccupied.

"Are you sure you're ready to do this? You just woke up a few hours ago," Jill remarked, concern in her voice.

"Are we really doing this?"

"Look," Jill sighed, "I hate this emotional crap as much as you, and even if I hate to admit it, I fucking love your guts and I'd nuke the entirety of this fucking planet if anything happened to you."

That seemed to shift Claire's mood in a better direction, "so that's what I'm worth to you, just a nuke?"

Jill exaggerated her eye roll greatly as she sighed loudly, "God, you're so high maintenance. What about a death laser that has the capacity to destroy an entire planet?"

Claire smiled, she knew Alice would have enjoyed that reference. She swallowed thickly as she realized just how much she missed her - even if she had been unconscious the whole time it felt like months since she had seen the doctor smile at her with that smile that was solely reserved for her. She missed the way she laughed at her own jokes and most of all she missed Alice's calming presence beside her.

Claire rolled her eyes at her friend. "Calm yourself, Darth Valentine, I don't need you doing all dark side on me."

"Red, come on, I'm already dark side," Jill replied like she was offended to be labeled as a Rebell.

"You're more of a reluctant good guy," Claire narrowed her eyes as she paused for a second, "actually you're the definition of chaotic good."

Jill scrunched up her nose, "so what's that make you, lawful good?"

Claire made a face and chuckled, "fuck no, Jill. I'm neutral good, obviously."

"I think you're just a fucking nerd," Jill stuck out her tongue at Claire's raised middle finger.

"So does that mean we're done with your emotional 'be careful, don't die on me' speech?"

"As long as you get it through your hard head, Redfield."

Claire scoffed as she watched Chris take the pilot's seat. K-mart sat beside her and Abby sat beside Jill so their weight would be evenly distributed in the aircraft. "I could say the same about you miss 'let's rush in and see what happens'."

"What are we arguing about now?" K-mart asked with a large grin as she unconsciously moved closer to Claire's side. Claire's gloved hand ruffled her blonde hair and she thought she had never been happier, then she locked her gaze with Abby and took her statement back.

"We're not arguing, I'm just wondering why redheads are such fucking assholes," Jill answered and immediately Claire's boot collided with her shin

Claire grabbed Jill's ankle as she correctly guessed the woman was about to retaliate. She held up a finger with a raised eyebrow, challenging, "we have no soul because we deliberately sold it to become superior human beings."

"Well that explains it," Jill chuckled as she shoved her friend's hand away but winked at her with a smirk.

"Are they always like this?" Abby asks and wondered if their history held something more romantic than friendly. I mean, having a best friend was nice and all but damn the sexual tension they both let out was something else - or maybe that was just Jill being Jill. Abby noticed the woman could have sexual chemistry with a damn plank of wood.

"You'll get used to it," K-mart shrugged and giggled as Claire bumped her shoulder with hers.

The helicopter's rotors slowly increase in speed as Chris awoke the engine with the flick of a switch. The passengers placed the headsets over their heads so they could communicate over the loud noise the blades made once they've nearly reached their maximum speed. The helicopter shook from side to side as the force and speed of the rotors were begging to lift the aircraft off the ground.

Chris' voice filtered through their headsets: "Everyone ready?"

"Are you?" Claire countered with a slight chuckle.

Though their voice sounded scratchy as they spoke through their earpiece, Chris heard the smirk in his sister's voice. "It's just like riding a bike."

"I fucking hope not, because last time you rode my bike you almost crashed it."

"Details, details," Chris chuckled as he flipped some more switches, everything quickly came back to him like muscle memory. He pulled on the stick and they slowly lifted off the ground, creating a large cloud of dust beneath them. "Buckle up ladies," he said while laughing as he smoothly pulled off and in just a few seconds Arcadia was almost indistinguishable underneath them.

"Why are we letting him fly again?" Jill asked teasingly.

Claire pointed at the large case beneath her seat.

"Right, you're going all Rambo with that RPG."

Claire simply winked at her in reply. She truly loved flying, and had actually learned from Chris, but manning a rocket launcher wasn't something people commonly did these days - sometimes, just for a few seconds, Claire actually missed being out on deployment. besides, she totally wanted props for the most badass entrance into an 'evil lair' ever.

Jill turned to Abby and said: "well it was nice knowing you. I really hope there are dinosaurs in heaven or I'm going to be pissed off."

Claire listened to their banter for a while but eventually, every noise was drowned out as she became increasingly anxious for Alice's safety as worst case scenarios rushed through her mind. She fought to tune it out but found she couldn't get a handle on them.

She didn't forget that Alice was a very capable woman and could handle her own, but Wesker's sickening smirk was imprinted into her mind and what he could be doing to Alice scared the shit out of her.

They couldn't get there fast enough.

* * *

Isaacs watched Alice pound her fists into the thick metal door to the cell that made her a captive. From the inside, the imprint of her knuckles had been deeply embedded into it and the doctor feared they would have to move her if she kept this up.

"She's magnificent, isn't she?" Isaacs asked Wesker, not turning his gaze away from the monitor in front of him. "Her strength has grown considerably in the last few hours. She might even be stronger than you, Albert." And that was just from one dose of his modified Rebirth Virus, he could only imagine the powers she could possess after five or even ten injections - the thought alone thrilled him beyond words.

"With all due respect, Doctor Isaacs, I highly doubt that could be a possibility," Wesker responded confidently and Isaacs picked up a hint of jealousy in his usual steady tone.

"Then you won't mind being the one to give her the second injection?" Isaacs gave him a filled syringe, again, without as so much turning away from the glare of the screen.

"Consider it done," Wesker took the offered item and promptly left the room. Alice was just a woman, he didn't understand Alexander's fascination with her. Sure, her DNA perfectly melded with the virus, but so did his. Perhaps there was something the doctor had kept from him. No matter, once his sister returns he'll gladly snap his neck like a twig. Wesker smirked to himself as he knocked on Alice's cell door.

Isaacs watched Alice back away from the door through the monitor, she braced herself as the door opened and charged at Wesker the second her cell door opened. He turned to a second monitor and grinned as they both collided into the brick wall behind them, the impact created a large gaping hole and covered them both with dust.

They exchanged a few more blows before Wesker had been able to stick the needle into her neck. A few moments later he was seen dragging her unconscious body back into her cell before closing the door shut.

Wesker wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth and growled slightly; he stood in front of the door to Alice's cell, unmoving before he rolled his shoulders and marched away.

Isaacs chuckled and moved back from the screen slightly as he played with the ring on his finger. He was pleasantly surprised to see Alice had woken up just a few moments later. If his calculations were correct, her abilities would far surpass that of Wesker's, and anything this world has ever seen. Now his serum would finally be perfect for his last and final subject: himself.

Alice's cell door finally gave, and once she was out about twenty bodies were on her; there was no way she was going anywhere. She was tased, chained up, and thrown into another cell, hopefully, with a sturdier door, Isaacs mused silently.

If she escaped before he had time to do the blood transfusion, there was no way he was going to catch her out there - and he wasn't exactly too thrilled in undergoing the same procedure with Wesker's blood. No, Alice is the one he wanted and it's the one he was going to get no matter the cost.


End file.
